Drawing on a wide range of sources including - with appropriate scepticism - the biography of Albanesi written by her mother in the 1920s, this is a thorough, well-researched and fascinating story of the short life of an accomplished actor. Francis Gray's engaging prose brings Meggie Albanesi to life: a talented, mould-breaking performer whose self-doubt and workaholic nature - along with the social mores of the times - robbed the West End of a star who should have been. ( )