Norma Jeane Baker aka Marilyn Monroe

Norma Jeane Baker, better known as the actress Marilyn Monroe, is the central character in this novel. She is the daughter of Gladys Mortensen and an unknown Hollywood actor. She spends her life looking for acceptance from her mother even though her mother is mentally ill and cannot give her the acceptance she desires. Norma Jeane additionally seeks acknowledgment from her father. Through the course of her life, he never reaches out to her.

Norma Jeane imagines herself as an officer in the WAC, but her life takes a different course when she is discovered by a photographer and is thrown into a world of modeling and acting. Norma Jeane believes she is successful if people love her. If she senses she is unloved, she responds by punishing herself. She attempts suicide multiple times in the course of the novel. Norma Jeane is...