Beaches
Iris Rainer Dart
1985, Fiction, 8/10

The Boardwalk (pp.1-33)
10 September 2025, 8:30am

I’m only three chapters in, and I am trying hard to not compare the book to the film.  I’m finding it difficult to do that.  What I would have loved is just more, and it’s surprising to me.  

We open with Cee Cee in a rehearsal.  

The dancers were holding Cee Cee above their heads. “And now,” she said, “as I lie in the arms of four promiscuous homosexuals from West Hollywood, my tits pointed towards the heavens like an offering to the gods, I slowly turn my head, look out at America and ask the musical question…”

I think this establishes the character beautifully from the start.  I can tell how self-assured and how assertive she is, just from these small bits.  The films softened this moment into a performer who is much more serious, and I think I prefer this choice.

The phone is ringing, and after some time Cee Cee finally gets to it and there is nobody there.  On hearing that the call is from Roberta Barron, she leaves immediately, the director and performers still expecting her to return.

The second chapter features the iconic meeting of Bertie and Cee Cee on the Atlantic City boardwalk.  I was able to form my own characters in my mind based on the descriptions, except for Leona.  Iris Rainer Dart describes Leona so often, referencing her weight especially.  But for me, I can’t get Lainie Kazan off the page.  She is Leona Bloom, and I guess always will be for me.  

The events are sparked by some questionable attention paid to the seven year old Bertie, by her aunt and mother.  The two women are enjoying the sun, their cigarettes, and aren’t worried about the little girl who has lost track of them and ends up meeting 10 year old Cee Cee Bloom, and soon Cee Cee’s mother Leona.  Bertie tags along while Cee Cee goes to an audition, after which she is reunited with her aunt and mother.  One thing I like in the film version that does not happen in the book is how it is established that Bertie (Hilary in the film) comes from money.  There is a scene in the move where the girls get ice cream at the ritzy hotel where they are staying, juxtaposing the upper class lifestyle Bertie comes from.  That is missing in the book, so I never feel as clear on who Bertie’s family is meant to be.  It’s also possible that I missed something from the text. 

I continue to struggle with Leona.  As one of my favorite characters in the film, I’m confused by who she is in the book.  She has all of the determination and attitude I want from her, but she also is described in the way that slim people often talk about fat people—she always seems to have a sandwich in her hand, and everything she does centers around her weight or eating, except of course when it comes to Cee Cee.  I think there could be conversations about weight, but this book wasn’t the one to tackle them.  A more fully formed version of Leona might show her never struggling with her weight, but then dying young from a preventable weight-related issue.  That would at least be commentary.  As it is, Leona is a punchline, but I won’t accept that.  She is raising Cee Cee on her own, she is determined, she doesn’t complain about her own life.  She’s the backbone of the early parts of Cee Cee’s life, so I wish a little more care was taken with her.

The chapters end with letters exchanged, but I’m mildly disappointed that there aren’t more penpal letters between Cee Cee & Bertie, but I’m sure the author didn’t want to make this a four part novel, filled with boring letters.  I would have loved that, but I don’t know if we would have gotten a movie.  One thing that was definitely missing though was dates on the letters.  In a book like this, spanning decades, giving dates to letters helps ground you.  I was annoyed by it, so I flipped through the book and the author has chosen to do that throughout.  I find it a little disorienting, but at least I know to not expect that.

I’m enjoying the book so far.  And while I’m not comparing the book to the film to the best of my ability, the film does give me reference for where the book is and where it is going.  So far, we’ve done the scene of Cee Cee rehearsing her show in Los Angeles and getting the phone call from Bertie; the events from childhood in Atlantic City where the two girls meet and Cee Cee has her audition; Cee Cee getting not he plane to go see Bertie; and I’ve just started the chapter where an 18 or 19 year old Cee Cee has joined John Perry’s company of dancers and singers.Continue Reading