Published January 5, 2016 by NAL
I received my complimentary copy of Stars Over Sunset Boulevard from Caitlin Valenziano,Associate Publicist at Berkley/NAL, Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.
Los Angeles, Present Day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone
With the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister’s vintage clothing boutique
by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more
enchanting than any classic movie…Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and lands a job on the film-set of Gone With the Wind. There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star who is now a fellow secretary. Audrey’s zest for life and their adventures together among Hollywood’s glitterati enthrall Violet…until each woman’s deepest desires collide. What Audrey and Violet are willing to risk, for themselves and for each other, to ensure their own happy endings will shape their friendship, and their lives, far into the future.
My Thoughts…
I have to admit that I have not ever read Gone with the Wind
or seen the movie. That worried me a
little starting Stars Over Sunset Boulevard only because I wasn’t sure how much
of the book would revolve around something I am not really familiar with. I had no reason to worry, I was not
missing anything by not having seen or read Gone with the Wind.
The historical fiction labeling is what really made me pick
up this book. I love the era, the
parties, the movie stars, and, of course, the cinema that was produced. I felt like it was a simpler time to live
in. The look into the making of Gone with the Wind
was fun because it was an inside look.
It wasn’t just the movie stars it was the story of the secretaries, the
costume people, and others from behind the scenes.
Violet and Audrey’s
lives were simpler but were not necessarily easier than the current time. They went from being complete strangers who
worked in the same secretary pool to truly being best friends. The disagreements, the fun, and most of all
the friendship were all genuine.
While Audrey was the strong friend to start, I felt like Violet came
into her own because she lived with Audrey.
She was forced to stand up for herself, although there were a few times
that she was a little shady in how she acted and I wasn’t sure that she was
being a good friend.
There is a present time storyline within Stars Over Sunset
Boulevard, but I felt like it wasn’t important to the story as a whole. While it was fun to hear how the rest of
the family turned out it did not catch my attention and I found myself skimming
over that part of the story.
I definitely recommend checking out Susan Meissner’s Stars
Over Sunset Boulevard.
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