“A Festival Wife” is a romantic thriller set at a film festival in San Lorenzo.  Henry Dean is a veteran publicist hired to look after the guest of honour, a famous but aging director.  As Henry meets up with a colourful cast of old friends, lovers, and rivals, his job becomes more complicated.  The film festival is a small world and everyone wants something.

Henry has to babysit a famous film director who hasn’t made a movie in years.  The director wants to make another movie, seduce pretty girls, and bask in the attention of the press.  Henry has to find journalists willing to interview the old man.  Most of them are more interested in the hot young directors and stars at the festival so Henry is forced to wheel and deal in order to get his client the publicity he wants and needs.  In order to make some extra money and get his client an interview, he agrees to introduce a journalist to the mysterious, and possibly shady, financiers behind a new film company.  Meanwhile, Henry’s ex-wife is determined to make a documentary exposing one of the new company’s backers, and the same backer wants Henry’s help meeting a woman Henry knows is already seeing someone else.

The story is told in first person by Henry and he is a delightful narrator.  Intelligent and witty, jaded and a bit desperate, he knows everyone and all their dirty little secrets.  He shakes his head over rival journalists Charles and Nora, both married to other people, who meet every year at the festival in an ongoing affair.  He attends an AIDS fund-raising lunch at the mansion of the wealthy Count Rassi.  He has drinks or lunch with all the friends he only sees at film festivals and chats up anyone he thinks can help him.  We get all the deliciously gossipy details about what goes on at film festivals through the eyes of someone who has been working them, and working with the rich and famous, for decades.  Sometimes he borders on catty, but he’s never dull.

There are currently 5 fairly long chapters posted and the story is developing well.  There are a lot of characters but most of them are quite memorable.  The dialog is snappy and fun to read.  The plot threads are intertwining nicely, leaving the feeling that Something Terrible is Going to Happen.  The pace is a bit leisurely but the writing is fun to linger over and the backstory is interesting if you have any interest in the world of film.

So far, “A Festival Wife” is a well-written story about “life” in the artificial world of a film festival.  Seen through the eyes of a jaded, semi-retired publicist, the festival is exotic, colourful, and populated with dreamers, crooks, liars and cheats.  Everyone wants to be a part of the magic, or live in the fantasy, at least for a while. 

Please note:  The author tells us that the story will be complete on May 20 and will remain online for only a few weeks longer.  After that, it will only be available in print.

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