Friends of Montclair Library

To help you get ready for Gail Tsukiyama’s visit to the library November 28, here are 12 novels about the glamour and intrigue (and also the dark side) of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Like Tsukiyama’s The Brightest Star, many of these books are fictional accounts inspired by actual people.

Quoted book descriptions are from the library website unless otherwise noted.

The Brightest Star by Gail Tsukiyama
“Arriving in Hollywood to become an actress, Anna May Wong discovers her beauty and talent aren’t enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles and, over the years, fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden-even as she finds global stardom.”

Delayed Rays of a Star by Amanda Lee Koe
“This novel follows the lives of three extraordinary women in the late 1920s. One is up-and-coming German actress Marlene Dietrich, one is Anna May Wong, the world’s first Chinese American star, and the third is Leni Riefenstahl, whose work as a director of propaganda art films would first make her famous–then, infamous.” (Penguin Random House)

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
Like many before her, screenwriter Maria Lagana has come to Hollywood to outrun her past. Her job is to re-write scripts to circumvent the censors for Mercury Pictures, “a nexus of refugees and emigres, each struggling to reinvent themselves in the land of celluloid,” including “Eddie Lu, a struggling actor and Maria’s boyfriend, who despite being born in Los Angeles encounters the worst of America’s xenophobia.”

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This best-seller might be the first book that comes to mind when you think of Old Hollywood fiction, as Reid recounts the fictional tale of a movie icon telling her life story to an unknown magazine reporter.

Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch
Character actress Edie O’Dare moonlights “for Hollywood’s reigning gossip columnist, providing her with the salacious details of every party and premiere. When an up-and-coming starlet hands her a letter alleging an assault from an A-list actor at a party with Edie and the rest of the industry’s biggest names in attendance, Edie helps get the story into print and sets off a chain of events that will alter the trajectories of everyone involved.”

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
Desperate to escape an increasingly dangerous Nazi Germany, Hedwig Kiesler flees to Hollywood, where she reinvents herself as Hedy Lamarr, screen star. This novel imagines Hedy’s rise in Hollywood alongside her work inventing a radio guidance system for torpedoes that paved the way for Wi-Fi.

Miss Del Rio by Barbara Mujica
“Spirited away to Hollywood from Mexico City, Dolores del Río becomes an instant star, swept up into Tinseltown’s glitzy inner circle, until, amidst her tumultuous personal life, she becomes box office poison amid growing prejudice before World War II, forcing her to decide what price she’s willing to pay to achieve her dreams.”

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin
“A fascinating novel of the friendship and creative partnership between two of Hollywood’s earliest female legends–screenwriter Frances Marion and superstar Mary Pickford,” with “cameos from such notables as Charlie Chaplin, Louis B. Mayer, Rudolph Valentino, and Lillian Gish.”

Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub
“Fleeing her family home in Wisconsin in the wake of a tragedy that compels her to pursue her acting career in golden-age Hollywood, Elsa enjoys the heady extravagances of her fame while struggling to remain true to herself and balance the needs of her family.”

All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani
“The movie business is booming in 1935 when 21-year-old Loretta Young meets 34-year-old Clark Gable on the set of The Call of the Wild. Though he’s already married, Gable falls for the young actress instantly, setting off decades of scandal” which she navigates with the help of her assistant, a novice nun recently dismissed from her convent.

Platinum Doll by Anne Girard
The fictionalized story of how a 17-year-old from the Midwest named Harlean Carpenter McGrew transformed herself into “Hollywood’s original blonde bombshell,” Jean Harlow.
(“Girard tells the enchanting story of Jean Harlow, one of the most iconic stars in the history of film, from 17-year-old Harlean Carpenter McGrew’s arrival in Beverly Hills to being thrust into the center of the cinema spotlight.”)

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul
“When white silver screen icon Kitty Karr Tate dies and bequeaths her multimillion-dollar estate to the three Black St. John sisters, it prompts questions…” In Kitty’s journals, Elise St. John discovers the truth behind Kitty’s ascent to stardom, as “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.” (Kirkus Reviews)