The chroniclers of classic-era Hollywood have never quite known what to do with Merle Oberon.... So it takes chutzpah and sympathy to write a biography about Oberon, but Mayukh Sen has both.--Ty Burr "Wall Street Journal"

Mayukh Sen cheerfully reclaims [Oberon's] story, narrating it with sensitivity and verve.--Carolyn Kellogg "Los Angeles Times"

Sen's story shines throughout.--Akanksha Singh "Los Angeles Review of Books"

Sen elegantly and thoroughly performs a work of historical recovery.--Kendra Nordin Beato "Christian Science Monitor"

Oberon's story is far richer than any of her screen roles.... The book is a fascinating portrait of a woman of ambition as well as a look at Hollywood's color barriers.--Daniel Bubbeo "Newsday"

[A] scrupulous and moving biography.... Oberon's elan embosses Sen's easy and engaging prose.... Thanks to Sen's insightful, compassionate, and historically-attuned narrative skill, the significance of Oberon's signature is legible beyond the page.--Sumaiya Aftab Ahmed "Metropolitan Review"

Mr. Sen carefully corrects Charles Higham's fanciful biography and filmographies that mistakenly attribute certain roles to Oberon.... One of the most excruciating scenes in this powerful biography is Oberon's late in life visit to Tasmania, still unable to admit the fiction of her birth there.--Carl Rollyson "New York Sun"

Merle Oberon, one of Hollywood's first South Asian movie stars, gets her due in this engrossing biography, which masterfully explores Oberon's painful upbringing, complicated racial identity, and much more.--Sophia M. Stewart "Millions"

Throughout every up and down of Oberon's career, Sen pays her--and his readers--the implicit compliment of not turning his subject into a saint.... Love, Queenie is earnestly affectionate but pulls none of these punches, which makes it both bracing and refreshing reading, the year's first genuinely worthwhile movie star biography. All previous studies of this troubled, fascinating figure can be readily retired.--Steve Donoghue "Open Letters Review"

Her story was alluring enough to become the subject of biographies, novel and television mini-series. Yet nothing fully captured her drive, spirit and audacity. But now a farm-fresh biography, Love, Queenie by Mayukh Sen, locates, contextualises and explains Merle Oberon like none before.... Sen guides us through every bend of her life, seeing her with a sympathetic lens.--Avijit Ghosh "Times of India"

[A] captivating portrait of a determined young woman who wouldn't let prejudice come in the way of her dream to be a famous actress.... Sen's gaze is empathetic as he packs in a punch of revelations, scandal and criticism, especially around her complexion, more so in the technicolour era. Love, Queenie ultimately is a tragic tale ripe for cinematic treatment, about a complex woman who achieved her ambition despite adversities.--Suhani Singh "India Today"

Sen's thorough research, graceful prose, and nuanced analyses of the systems of oppression framing Oberon's life offer a layered and engrossing portrait of a woman who skyrocketed to well-earned stardom while enduring the trauma of hiding her race. An extraordinary biography of a extraordinary South Asian woman.--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Film critic Sen delivers a moving biography of Merle Oberon.... [H]e emphasizes the stirring determination she showed in scrapping her way to the film's industry's upper echelon. It's a poignant account of the sacrifices that enabled an extraordinary career.--Publishers Weekly, starred review

Sen anchors Oberon's complicated story and spotty filmography within the racism and classism of the early twentieth century, crediting her as a pioneer for the growing cadre of South Asian actors only now breaking through filmdom's capricious prejudices. Sen finally gives this oft-overlooked actor her due.--Booklist, starred review

A deeply sympathetic portrait of one of Hollywood's most misunderstood figures, Love, Queenie is not only a love letter to Merle Oberon's underappreciated filmography, but also an unflinching examination of how the era's racial codes constricted her life--on and off the screen.--Katie Gee Salisbury, author of Not Your China Doll

Sen's book is one of the best film-related biographies I've read. It vividly recreates a complex, often painful life that can be admired not just for her matchless physical beauty but also for how she dealt with its many challenges, above all with the suppression of that other self that never went away but had to be kept in its place.--Brian McFarlane "Sydney Morning Herald"

As the critic Mayukh Sen attests in his recent biography, Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star--which briskly, eruditely circles the question of what America wants from its stars when they come from the margins--the truth surrounding Oberon's origins was a lifelong act of denial rooted in the bigotry of her time.--Nirris Nagendrarajah "MUBI Notebook"

A deeply drawn portrait of the fascinating screen star Merle Oberon. Told with empathy and rigor, it's also a grand tour of Hollywood's opulence and racism through the decades. A compelling story of one woman's struggle to make a life for herself against the odds. I could not put this book down.--Padma Lakshmi, author of Love, Loss, and What We Ate

This entrancing book left me reflecting on the society that compelled such a star to hide who she was all her life. An invaluable biography rich with surprises, heartbreak, and the complicated fulfillment of dreams.--Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning

Through Mayukh Sen's remarkable book, I discovered a brilliant, ambitious actress who could achieve visibility only by making her past invisible. After reading Love, Queenie, I hold two opposing thoughts in my mind: 'Look how far we've come, ' and 'Not much has changed.'--Poorna Jagannathan, actress, Never Have I Ever

Merle Oberon never got to tell the true story of her life. Mayukh Sen finally has, and it rivals that of any character she played on the screen. I couldn't put this book down.--Carla Valderrama, author of This Was Hollywood

The saga of Merle Oberon is one of Hollywood's most extraordinary tales--one that has, at long last, found the right teller in Mayukh Sen, whose wonderful book is written with compassion, clear eyes, and panache.--Michael Schulman, author of Oscar Wars

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2026-04-21

Length: 336 pages