I read this book when it first came out in the early 90s and liked it so much I wrote the author. Not long after I sent off the letter, I received a personal reply from Sam Staggs. He wrote of his sincere respect for Marilyn Monroe and her work which is evident on every page of THE RETURN OF MARILYN MONROE.

Unlike many of the biographies and fiction about the popular blond actress, Sam Stagg's novel carries some hope with it and shows the smarter, less self-absorbed side of Miss Monroe that is rarely given much press. The author works from the idea that Monroe didn't really die that infamous day in August of 1962; instead her body was substituted with one closely resembling hers.

Staggs does link Monroe with the Kennedys (they arrange for her to be kidnapped and have the body switch made), but once she escapes from her abductors and seeks out life in the big city under an assumed name, the novel takes on a tone that is more positive and less sensational.

For Marilyn Monroe fans who always thought she was more than just a dumb blonde (that she could indeed have played Grushenka in "The Brothers Karamazov"), THE RETURN OF MM is pure delight! Some of the scenes are just wonderful, especially one where she enters a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like contest a few years after her "death." ( )