Fabulous Fiction Firsts #829, Secrets of the Golden Age of Hollywood

Sun, 09/10/2023 - 5:51pm by muffy

Did you Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook).

When the three St. Johns sisters, Elise, Giovanni, and Noele find themselves heirs to Kitty Karr Tate’s immense fortune, they were as surprised as the rest of Hollywood. The St. Johns, a prominent Bel Air family is Kitty’s neighbor as well as a mentor to Elise who is up for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Apart from planning Kitty’s memorial services, navigating the contentious dynamics between her sisters and their mother,  Elise is tasked with sorting out Kitty’s affairs, and among her journals, what Elise discovers will rock her world and might explain why a successful white actress would bestow her immense inheritance on three Black girls.

The narrative winds back to Kitty's hardships in 1930s North Carolina; and mid-century Hollywood glamor; the harshness of the studio system, with all of its attendant misogyny and racism.

“What is less obvious, by design, are the steps many people took to create new lives for themselves once they reached LA from less hospitable places. Against an origin story of sexual violence and systemic roadblocks, Kitty and her California cohort survive a series of excruciating trials in order to live their dreams. The results of their choices, made in order to succeed and survive in the Hollywood machine, echo for generations throughout Paul's meandering yet page-turning narrative…With a plot worthy of a miniseries, an extensive cast, and a historical sweep, Paul succeeds in entertaining as well as enlightening.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Readers of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Piper Huguley will be enthralled.” (Booklist)

Do Tell (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) by debut novelist Lindsay Lynch,  is “(g)amorous, tawdry, and human. A rich portrait of the lives of early Hollywood's beautiful puppets and those holding their strings." ~ Emma Straub  

1940s, Los Angeles. Edie O'Dare‘s contract with FWM Studios is about to end and with renewal unlikely, she needs to find a new gig.  While her career in pictures has been undistinguished at best, she is a fixture at all the parties and premiers and has long supplemented her income by passing on salacious dirt to the reigning gossip columnist.

A small kindness to 16-year-old rising starlet Sophie Melrose at a party unexpectedly gives Edie an exclusive to Sophie’s claim of being sexually assaulted by one of the biggest names in the industry, Freddy Clarke. The subsequent tabloid coverage lands Edie her own column at The Los Angeles Times (christened as "Do Tell”), Freddy being charged, and eventually strains her relationships with everyone she once considers a friend. 

“Although the plot lags when Lynch describes clothing, hairstyles, and makeup in too much detail, she doesn't lose sight of a salient theme: Edie's success depends on others' vulnerability. Lynch's characters--clad in designer gowns, inhabiting sumptuous mansions, and drinking champagne at lavish parties--are replaceable cogs in a powerful industry. An intimate look at Hollywood's dark secrets.” (Kirkus Reviews) 

BONUS FEATURE

The Brightest Star by Gail Tsukiyama (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook). This historical novel is based on the life of Anna May Wong - the first and only Asian American woman to gain stardom in the early days of Hollywood.  Born Wong Liu Tsong, to Chinese immigrants who own a laundry, she was taunted and bullied growing up, finding joy only at the local nickelodeons. At 16, she left home to pursue her Hollywood dream. “She longed to play characters who weren't concubines, prostitutes, or evil dragon ladies. As one of the first Chinese American actresses, she often struggled to get movie roles for two reasons: Hollywood protocols and anti-miscegenation laws prevented her from starring as a love interest to a white man, and Asian roles often went to white actors in yellowface. She was determined to take the roles she could get and never give up on acting.” (Library Journal) 

“For greater freedom, Anna travels to Europe, where she befriends Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker. With its rich supporting cast, the novel emphasizes the friendships and family relationships that help Anna thrive, while her many disappointments (like losing a leading role in The Good Earth to a German actress in "yellowface") catch at the heart.” (Booklist)