This was such a fun read for me as it reminded me Circa 1989 watching daytime soaps with my grandma. Callie has been the star of a top soap opera for 25+ years.
Her real life though is a true soap opera in itself. She has a 13yo son, who wants to perform, that thinks his father is dead. The father, however, is just a blackmailer and she has to pay him to keep him away from them. Her mom, a true stage mom, lives with her to keep watch over her son, but doesn’t believe her daughter always has her grandsons best interest at heart. She is dating her writer for years, who is in love with her and she has yet to bring him around her family.
What happens when the soap opera is cut from the Network?
Watch how the behind the scenes soap plays out in Calie’s personal life. ( )

Good read about family and love while dealing with the entertainment industry. ( )

Daytime Drama is the story of Calliope (Callie) Hart, a middle-aged soap opera actor who suddenly finds herself facing multiple challenges including the cancellation of the show she’s starred in for a quarter-century, a failed relationship, conflict with both her adolescent son and mother and an emerging threat from the father of her son. Callie was suddenly immersed in the tensions created by a youth-worshiping industry and the daytime drama genre whose fan-base is rapidly aging. While Callie has the skills and recognition she requires to be a successful daytime drama actor, the cancellation of her show, Napa Valley, leads to a career crisis. Acting in soap operas while also being a single mother was so time-consuming that she never had the opportunity to become highly versatile in her craft. Interpersonal conflicts with her son, mother, and boyfriend created another layer of adversity that shakes her previously comfortable existence. Daytime Drama takes readers through Callie’s struggle to keep both her personal and professional lives together while charting a highly uncertain future.

Daytime Drama is author Sarahlyn Bruck’s second novel. She has skillfully created an interesting narrative where the complexities of Callie’s relationships with her son, mother, boyfriend, and the father of her son are developed and woven together in a convincing whole. Bruck also paints an engaging picture of both the life of a successful soap opera actor and the social and cultural environment in which she lives. I found myself drawn into the story. I eagerly wanted to know how Callie would salvage her career and relationships. I was curious to see how she might repair the damage created by the mistakes made in the throws of grief she experienced during the aftermath of the news of the program cancellation. At the end of the story, I found myself profoundly disappointed. The initial strength of the writing seemed to fall apart as the tensions that were so carefully developed earlier in the novel hastily dissolved into a “happily ever after” ending. The resolution of the plot seemed improbable given the complex picture painted of Callie’s thorny predicaments. The impact of this outcome was reminiscent of how I felt about the plots of soap operas I followed three decades ago. Perhaps it was the intent of the author to provide a soap opera-like ending to the novel. However, I feel that that the initial three-quarters of the novel was written well enough to have led to a more satisfying plot conclusion. ( )