The Lost Letters from Martha's Vineyard by Michael Callahan

September 14, 2024

The Lost Letters from Martha's Vineyard by Michael Callahan

After being nominated for an Academy Award, starlet Mercy Welles suddenly vanished without a trace from Hollywood. Sixty years later, Kit O'Neil and her sister are cleaning out their late grandmother's house on Martha's Vineyard when Kit comes across photos of her grandmother that look suspiciously like the missing actress.

I didn't love this as much as many other readers have. I thought this was going to be a really good end-of-summer read, and I usually love books about old Hollywood, but something about this one didn't sit right with me. Maybe because it was written by a man, and he was fixated on what the women in the story look like, especially whether they are slim or frumpy or the kind of woman a man (like him) wouldn't look at twice. Also, there are a lot of familiar over-used tropes, like the struggling unknown actress who is suddenly nominated for an Oscar and catapulted to stardom, the wealthy dysfunctional family, the pile of family secrets in the attic that somehow no one else has discovered, among other things. The story is also overly long and the plot drags. Although billed as a mystery, there isn't much mystery and a lot more romance. Recommended for readers of romantic suspense.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Martha's Vineyard

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

June 26, 2024

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A mid-level  movie studio decides to make a film called The Seventh Veil of Salome. Every actress and starlet in Hollywood auditions for the role of Salome, but everyone is surprised when the director selects an unknown Mexican actress for the part. A struggling actress believes the part was stolen from her and is convinced that if she can get rid of the other actress, she will be able to step into the part.

This is a different direction for Moreno-Garcia, purely historical fiction with nothing mythical or supernatural. Three women, all struggling to find their identities and be heard in a male-dominated world: Salome, daughter of Herodias, niece of Herod Antipas, Princess of Idumea; Vera, a Mexican actress and newcomer to Hollywood; and Nancy, a struggling extra who has been trying to get her big break in Hollywood for ten years, convinced that she could be a major star. Two parallel storylines, one the life of Salome, the other the movie being made about her. Although there are multiple POV and narrators, I did not find it at all confusing. We are supposed to hate Nancy, the villain of the piece, but really she is her own worst enemy, sabotaging herself at every turn, so it's hard not to feel sorry for her for her dumb choices. Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction, especially about the golden age of Hollywood.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Traditional depiction of Salome

Miss del Rio by Barbara Mujica

June 4, 2024

Miss del Rio by Barbara Mujica

Dolores del Rio was one of the first Latina movie stars. Beautiful and elegant, she was a star in both Hollywood and Mexico. This fictional biography follows her life from her childhood in Durango, Mexico, through her rapid rise in Hollywood as a silent film star, told from the viewpoint of her childhood friend and hair stylist Mara. She made the successful transition to sound films and along with Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth, epitomized the Hollywood standard of beauty in the 1930s. Her popularity in Hollywood began to decline in the early 1940s, and she returned to Mexico where she was a star in Mexican cinema.

Overall a very enjoyable read. Dolores led a fascinating if tumultuous life, but by the third section, the story lost some of its momentum. The narrator Mara is a fictional character, and the third part of the novel focuses on Mara's search for her family in Mexico. An editor could have cut 50-75 pages out of this section and tightened up the story. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was excellent. Will appeal to readers who enjoy the novels of Marie Benedict and Fiona Davis, and anyone interested in the golden age of Hollywood.

Dolores del Rio

 

A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman

December 27, 2023

A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman

Lana Turner and her boyfriend Johnny Stompanato had a tumultuous relationship. Actually, Lana had tumultuous relationships with almost all of her eight (!) husbands and many boyfriends. She had notoriously bad taste in men. The story of Johnny's murder has been overshadowed by many other sensational Hollywood crimes, such as the Black Dahlia murder. Lana was a victim of the masculine privilege and misogyny that so many actresses were victims of, and continues to the present day. At least women are speaking up today about how male studio heads, agents, actors, producers and others abuse their positions of powers.

Things you probably don't know about Lana Turner:

- Evita Peron, wife of Argentinian dictator Juan Peron, was obsessed with Lana and modeled her look after Lana, to an extent that bordered on creepy;

- Lana was indirectly responsible for the death of actress Carole Lombard: Lana was doing a film with Clark Gable, Lombard's husband, and Lombard was afraid that Gable was having an affair with Lana (he had a well-known weakness for blondes); Lombard was in the Midwest doing a war bonds tour, and instead of traveling home with the rest of the tour which would have taken 2-3 days, she decided to fly home which would get her back to Los Angeles by that evening; Lombard's plane crashed into a mountain killing everyone on board; 

- Lana was rumored to be bi-sexual and to have had a steamy affair with Ava Gardner, one of her best friends;

- Sean Connery's first major film role was in a movie produced by Lana's production company, Lanturn Productions; the movie was a flop, but Sean's career took off;

- Lana was Rh-positive; although she was pregnant at least three times, only her daughter Cheryl Crane survived.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Lana Turner, Johnny Stompanato, and Lana's daughter Cheryl Crane

The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar

September 18, 2023

The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar

While preparing an exhibit of Hollywood costumes, a museum curator comes across a gown with a tag that says the designer was Zora Lily. But the curator has no idea who Zora Lily was. Seattle 1924 - Zora Hough's family lives in near poverty, but Zora is a talented seamstress and dreams of designing gowns for the rich and famous of Hollywood, even as she shares a bed with two of her sisters. In the evenings, she enjoys going with her friends to Seattle's speakeasies, where she meets a special man. But then her lover is deported for bootlegging and Zora is devastated. When she is offered the change to work on a movie in Hollywood, she decides to take a chance at achieving her dream of being a fashion designer.

I love fiction about the Golden Age of Hollywood and especially about costumes, design, and sewing (I have a 1920s fashion print hanging in my bedroom). The story does not really have a dual timeline - the museum curator in 2023 merely sets up Zora's story and then winds in the threads at the end. Zora is a very likeable character who makes some dumb mistakes (but if she didn't, there wouldn't be a story) but not so dumb that they can't be fixed. Zora is totally disillusioned when someone else takes credit for her work (like this has never happened to any of us). The descriptions of the speakeasies and the glamorous clothes were wonderful. Historical fiction recommended for readers who enjoy Fiona Davis and Melanie Benjamin.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Greta Garbo wearing one of her iconic gowns

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra

July 10, 2022

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra

At the start of World War II, Mercury Pictures is strictly a B-movie studio (possibly a C-movie studio), until a critic hails one of their films as a prophetic masterpiece. The studio owner, a man of many toupees, is called to Washington D.C. and enlisted to make propaganda films (i.e., war fiction) for the U.S. government. Maria Lagana, an associate producer at Mercury, came to the U.S. from Italy as a child but when the U.S. enters World War II, she is subject to the same restrictions as other German, Italian, and Asian Americans. Former architects, poets, and photographers are enlisted to make miniature replicas of Berlin, write B-movie propaganda films, and portray stereotypical evil villains from the Axis countries.

This was a fascinating look at the culture, politics and economics of the movie industry in the WWII era. There was a lot more humor than I was expecting, and I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Typical propaganda film of the World War II era

All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks

February 22, 2022

All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks

At age 95, Mel Brooks has written a fabulous autobiography of his life as an actor/director/writer/producer of some of my favorite zany, irreverant films.

Love this - what a mensch!

Mel Brooks with Harvey Korman and some busty girl from Blazing Saddles

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

July 1, 2021

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

Mia Eliot is an English starlet looking for her break-through role. She has had some success in England and her agent arranges for her to audition for several potential roles during pilot week in Hollywood. While at one of the auditions, she meets another actor named Emily, who leaves some personal items with Mia and then disappears. Mia is the last person to have seen her and the more she tries to track her down, the more she begins to wonder if Emily really exists or if it is all a hoax.

This one had an interesting premise and usually I really like books about missing persons, but I had problems with the plot almost from the start. The main character is TSTL (romance novel-speak for Too Stupid To Live). She makes the worst possible decision at every turn. Yes, I realize that if characters in novels made sensible choices, there would be no story and the book would be four pages long. But come on - characters need to exercise SOME brain power for the reader to feel something for them - you have to feel like they're trying. For example: if you knew someone intended to kill you, would anyone agree to meet that person at a remote location and then follow them to a place where there is NO chance anyone can help you or even hear you? I mean, seriously, suspense is one thing, pure undiluted stupidity is another.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Actors waiting to audition