A Stranger in the Mirror

A Stranger in the Mirror is a 1976 novel written by Sidney Sheldon. The novel is one of the earliest of Sheldon's works, but contains the typical Sheldon fast-paced narration and several narrative techniques, with the exception of a twist ending. The novel tells the life story of two fictitious Hollywood celebrities—Toby Temple and Jill Castle (roman à clef on Sheldon's acquaintances Groucho Marx and Erin Fleming)^[1] and portrays the emotional extremes of success and failure and how people inevitably become victims of time. It was adapted into a television film in 1993 starring Perry King, Lori Loughlin, Christopher Plummer, and Juliet Mills.^[2]

A Stranger in the Mirror

First edition
Author	Sidney Sheldon
Language	English
Publisher	William Morrow
Publication date	1976
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	322 pp
ISBN	0-688-03196-X
OCLC	3345201
Dewey Decimal	813/.5/4
LC Class	PZ4.S5439 Bl PS3569.H3927

Plot summary

A retired captain recalls the cruise where he decided to retire, which involves the famous celebrity, Jill Castle. The book then goes back to the beginning of the lives of the two main characters: Jill and Toby Temple.

Born as the only child to German Immigrants , Toby Temple as a child grows up in a working class neighborhood with a weak butcher father and a domineering mother. Toby who is born with unnaturally large penis is initially ashamed of it but quickly learns to be proud of it seeing how many women he ends up seducing from classmates to women in his neighbourhood . After running away to Hollywood to avoid a shotgun marriage, his delusion of being naturally funny and charming is shattered when he struggles to start his career as a comedian. Eventually, after years of hardship, he becomes a successful star through the help of Clifton Lawrence, a celebrity producer. The success however has made him an egomaniac who destroys the careers of anyone with the slightest fault against him, and has to have everyone around him dependent on him, including Lawrence, whom he forces to drop all of his other celebrity clients.

Meanwhile Toby's mother passes away and a baby is reborn far away in Texas (Indicating a rebirth). Born Josephine Czinski, she has dreams of making it as a star in Hollywood and also in love with the town millionaire , David Kenyon. She leaves her hometown of Odessa, Texas for Hollywood after she learns that her boyfriend, David Kenyon, is engaged to another woman, Cissy, the morning after he nearly proposed to Jill himself. In reality, David's mother and Cissy trick David into thinking it would be a temporary marriage just to please his mother, but he fails to tell Jill about this. She discovers the difficulty of being an actress with no connections and, after being drugged into participating in a pornographic film, decides to start earning better roles in exchange for sexual favors. After a failed attempt at reuniting with David, who misses their rendezvous after Cissy attempts to kill herself, Jill returns to Hollywood and ends up working for the Toby Temple Show.

Toby is attracted to Jill, unaware of her promiscuous reputation. Toby tries his best to seduce her only to be rebuffed and that only goads him more. They bond over their humble beginnings and Toby marries her, despite Lawrence's warnings. Jill manipulates Toby into destroying the careers of those who have used her in the past, and then ends Lawrence's career (since he refused her a meeting when she was an unknown and also tried to prevent Jill from marrying Toby) by becoming Toby's manager.

Lawrence is practically destroyed after being sacked by Toby Temple as Lawrence who had long since dropped other clients in favour of Toby has no new stars to offer . The once dapper and powerful agent turns bitter due to failure and ends up working at an agency where his weekly pay is less than what he spent on one evening during his heydays . Smarting from Jill's revenge Lawrence waits for an opportunity to strike back at Jill.He hears rumors of Jill's porn film appearance by chance at a screening . He finds out the shady theatre where the movie is being played and bribes the operator to sell him a copy for cash .

Lawrence lands at Toby's place with the porn tape of Jills only to learn that Toby and Jill left for Cannes festival . Toby suffers a paralysing stroke at Cannes and is airflown to USA for treatment . The initial reports being dismal its Jill's determination to help him and his miraculous improvement earns public approval, making her more famous than Toby. Toby's recovery helps him get his own show owing to his popularity and general love among the public . But Toby goaded by Jill takes too many assignments rendering him weak and tired. Toby relapses into another stroke this time in Russia, where Jill meets David staying at the same hotel . David narrates the whole incident of how his friend Cissy in connivance with his mother tricked into marrying him and clung on to him until finally he was free to marry Jill who by then had married Toby Temple.

Toby's second stroke mars his appearance and paralyzes him completely, though this time he is estimated to live for another 20 years thanks to his strong heart. Jill who went through a grueling time helping Toby recuperate from his last stroke is unwilling to do it again and is attracted to David knowing the full backstory of how they lost each other due to unfortunate circumstances. In frustration, she tells a paralyzed Toby that she does not love him anymore but, as a result, begins to have nightmares about his moving eyes. She decides to drown him and stage his death as an accident, and while she is not charged with murder, Lawrence does not believe her story.

Lawrence hears of Jill's low-profile wedding to David Kenyon and suspects her of murdering Toby to be with him. He follows them to their honeymoon cruise and forces David to watch Jill's pornographic film where she was seen doing sexual acts with a mexican. David's racist history is revealed . David hates Mexicans due to him catching his sister with their mexican gardener in his youth. He stabs the gardener to death and the case is written off as a suicide thanks to The Kenyon Family's police connections. David is furious and in anger he beats up Lawrence breaking his nose. David leaves on a helicopter, while Lawrence gloats about his victory to Jill. Jill, depressed, hallucinates and sees Toby's face in the water and hears his voice beckoning her to come to him. She jumps off the boat to be with him.