Amid an audience at the Brookline Booksmith, Breakfast Club star Molly Ringwald gave insight into her latest book of betrayal, a theme she said she considers central to human life.
Despite Ringwald’s fame as one of the greatest teen stars of the 1980s, she said she will always be learning how to write.
Ringwald said her novel, “When It Happens to You: A Novel in Short Stories,” is a series of stories concerning Philip and Greta, a couple who are struggling to deal with marital betrayal.
The broader story, however, is weaved together with anecdotes, adding a new dimension to the couple’s journey through their issues, she said.
Ringwald said she has seen both sides of betrayal in her own personal experience and spent three years writing her debut non-fiction novel.
Having children and a husband, who also writes, made the process decidedly unromantic, she said, and she would prefer to write on whatever was near and wherever was most convenient.
During the reading, Ringwald applauded the independent bookstore for hosting authors regularly, calling these smaller stores a “place of comfort” for her.
In turn, Paul Theriault, an employee at Brookline Booksmith, said he expected the huge crowd and said these appearances help build the bookstore’s brand.
Ringwald wrote another book, “Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family and Finding the Perfect Lipstick,” in 2010. Despite her success in films, Ringwald said she had been interested in writing since she was young.
“I had to write a lot of bad stories before I wrote a good one,” she said.
Ringwald said that, as an actress, she was hindered by “the preconceived notions of what actors can and cannot do.”
Ringwald starred in ‘80s movies such as “Pretty in Pink,” “Sixteen Candles” and “Tempest,” for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination.
“Many people don’t consider actors to be writers,” Ringwald said.
But many of Ringwald’s audience members said they were attracted to her book.
Samantha Weber, a sophomore at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, said she was a huge fan of Ringwald’s films, but was also drawn to this work because it was fiction.
“It’s refreshing that she wrote a novel, instead of another autobiography,” Weber said. “This book is something worth reading.”
Jennifer Hessenflow, an employee at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Research and devoted fan, said she felt all of Ringwald’s characters, both on and off the screen, were easily relatable to real life.
“I designed and made my own prom dress because of her movies,” she said.
Growing up in the ‘80s, Hessenflow said she could identify with Ringwald’s characters and still does.
“I am from a small town myself, but I always knew there was more,” she said.
Another audience member, Cal Thompson, said she applauded Ringwald’s efforts to veer away from more stereotypical works by known celebrities.
“A lot of celebrities put out trash everyday because they can and someone out there will buy their books,” Thompson said. “But at the same time, you can tell a good writer pretty quickly.”
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