Also, some of the villains or shady characters in these pictures tended to be natives of that land. In other words, there was not much of a reason why the story took place there. In those films, the one-of-a-kind locations were mostly used as nothing more than one-of-a-kind locations. In fact, some Hitchcock movies had unique backdrops like Notorious (Brazil), To Catch a Thief (French Rivera), and The Man Who Knew Too Much (Morocco). The book also evokes 1940s and 1950s films by having suspenseful action take place in an exotic location. Even though that aspect could have been handled better, the Hitchcockian tone made the novel a little more interesting. It was not about the act itself (though I was initially confused), but in the logistics of how that could have happened without a certain participant knowing about it. However, there was one aspect that could have been handled more effectively, and that was what occurred on the night Alice and Lucy last spoke to each other at Bennington. What I mean by this is that it contains an innocent person accused of a crime, characters that can’t be trusted, a book cover that utilizes darkness as a form of impending doom, and references to a crime in passing as opposed to presenting it explicitly.

When I was reading Tangerine, I noticed that it had a very Hitchcockian vibe. Suddenly, John disappears, and Alice begins to question everything around her like Lucy, Tangier, and even her own mind. However, memories resurfaced on what happened that severed their friendship in the first place, and Alice starts to feel unease in Lucy’s company. Being the more independent and adventurous of the two, Lucy slowly takes Alice out of her comfort zone. This changes when Lucy Mason – Alice’s American friend and roommate at Bennington – shows up unannounced, and neither have spoken to each other for over a year. She is fragile and rarely goes outside of the apartment. Tangerine takes readers to 1956 Tangier, Morocco, where English newlywed Alice Shipley resides with her husband John.

This review will use Tangerine as an example of whether or not optioning for the book before it hits the shelves is worth it. In 2018, George Clooney acquired the film rights for his production company Smoke House Pictures, and Scarlett Johansson was set to play a main character in it (sadly, no other information has surfaced since then). That was the situation Tangerine by Christine Mangan fell into months prior to its release. But what if a novel was opted for a movie before its publication? Readers will probably be scratching their heads and asking the questions, “Why?” and “Would it be worth it?” Popular books get adapted into film all the time.

Tangerine mangan