Blonde: A Novel

The Studio purchases Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for Marilyn to star in, but she turns down the role because of her pregnancy. She no longer believes she can trust anyone who knew her before she became famous. She realizes that even though she is invited to the fancy Hollywood parties, all of these people still define her as promiscuous. Dr. Bender tells Norma Jeane that her mother suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and Norma Jeane has come to realize her mother will never be released. When Norma Jeane asks the doctor if the condition is inherited, he tells her that it sometimes is.

The third-person narrator explains the role of the press and how it is their job to spread Hollywood’s news.

The FBI has a file on Norma Jeane—a list of many men she is suspected of having had sexual relations with.