{Book Review} The Garden on Sunset by Martin Turnbull

First of all, I have to admit that I have not read a novel in years. In fact, I do not remember at all the last novel I read before this one.  The Twilight series, Harry Potter, even that Fifty Shades of Grey everyone keeps yapping about…I haven’t read any of them. The reason is that I have precious little time to read books, unfortuantely, and for years that time has been spent reading only biographies and research materials for this website. For years on end my Amazon wishlist has been filled with biographies. So for me to take on a novel was something out of the ordinary indeed.

Of course what immediately sparked my attention to this novel, which is the first of what will be a three book series, was the time period–the book begins in 1927 and ends in 1935. It follows the misadventures of Marcus, a closeted gay aspiring screenwriter; Gwendolyn, a beautiful wannabe-starlet who settles for being a cigarette girl; and Kathryn, a no-nonsense gal yearning to be taken seriously as a journalist in what is still a man’s game. They are all trying to make their dreams come true in Hollywood.

Now, I am a person who would be the first in line for time travel. I would head directly to 1930’s Hollywood where I would be overjoyed to wear a cloche hat and a skirt that hit mid-calf, to pay a nickel for a cup of coffee and to spend my week’s salary on a new Tangee lipstick and a Photoplay magazine. My husband often tells me I wouldn’t last a week without a hairdryer, electric dishwasher, television and central air conditioning. Maybe so, but a girl can dream! And that is what this book allows you to do–transport yourself back to Hollywood during its golden days. Follow the characters to the Cocoanut Grove, the Biltmore Bowl and the Brown Derby; experience first hand the stock market crash, the rise of talkies, the reversal of Prohibition, the Long Beach earthquake. As a person who is fascinated with the 1930’s, I ate up every page.

The book is a gem for classic film fans. Along the way, Marcus, Kathryn and Gwendolyn encounter Tallulah Bankhead, George Cukor, Ramon Navorro, Greta Garbo, Ginger Rogers, Alla Nazimova, Marion Davies, Errol Flynn and many, many more. Marcus accidently stumbles onto the set of San Francisco at one point…and sees Mr. Gable himself in action! Clark also figures prominently in a plot development involving sharing gossip with Louella Parsons. It was a great joy to flip the pages and see whom they would encounter next!

The second novel in the series will be called The Trouble with Scarlett and will focus heavily on the effect Gone with the Wind and the search for Scarlett had on Hollywood during the late 1930’s. I am pretty sure Clark Gable will pop up again in that one! It will be released this fall and I will certainly be reading it!

Martin is a delightful fountain of old Hollywood knowledge. You can read his blog here.