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adothan 's review for:
The Seventh Veil of Salome
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
3 stars
I am a sucker for anything set in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Especially anything that deals with the studio system and how the politics and whims of the studio heads impacted the contracted actors they were grooming for stardom (or hiding away in shame).
Vera is a Mexican dental receptionist plucked from her Uncles practice in Mexico to star as Salome in a Hollywood blockbuster. Her "exotic looks" (barf) and classy personality immediately gain her favour in the studio system, which I'd ready to make her their next star. Whether she's invested or not, and how much she's willing to play their PR games is up in the air.
Nancy is the daughter of a vaudeville star who didn't make it in pictures, and she'll do anything to not follow her father's footsteps. She's beautiful, ambitious, cruel, and has the worst work ethic I think I've ever seen for someone who wants to be an actress. But she's also convinced Vera stole her part...and her boyfriend.
Salome is, of course, a woman from the biblical epic, whose beauty and intelligence are sending her on a crash course with disaster.
Each character was interesting to read, but I found Salome's sections to be the most enjoyable to read. She felt the most fleshed out, as if the author knew what to do with her character and storyline more than the other two leading ladies. Sometimes Vera and Nancy felt like they were on the edge of that same detail and empathy but never quite made it there.
My biggest disappointment with this novel is that, while the author definitely got into the struggles and weird, PR complexities of studio actors at the time...hardly any time was spent on the actual set of the film they were making (and that the book title references). The few scenes that did take place on set were... kind of inaccurate to how most sets worked back in the day. Not a deal breaker by any means, but I wanted more of the on-set drama. I think it would have added so much for us to see Vera navigating her first role on set. There are so many rules, complicated instructions, and rigid hierarchies. Seeing her struggle and succeed would have given us more insight to her as a character. It also would have given some fun space to see Vera and Nancy interacting on that set in their respective roles.
I think the missing element was what happened while making the movie itself. So much fun could have happened in that setting, but the story barely went there. The characters were good, the plot was interesting, the setting was intriguing...but to me it needed a bit more pizazz to be a truly great story.
I am a sucker for anything set in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Especially anything that deals with the studio system and how the politics and whims of the studio heads impacted the contracted actors they were grooming for stardom (or hiding away in shame).
Vera is a Mexican dental receptionist plucked from her Uncles practice in Mexico to star as Salome in a Hollywood blockbuster. Her "exotic looks" (barf) and classy personality immediately gain her favour in the studio system, which I'd ready to make her their next star. Whether she's invested or not, and how much she's willing to play their PR games is up in the air.
Nancy is the daughter of a vaudeville star who didn't make it in pictures, and she'll do anything to not follow her father's footsteps. She's beautiful, ambitious, cruel, and has the worst work ethic I think I've ever seen for someone who wants to be an actress. But she's also convinced Vera stole her part...and her boyfriend.
Salome is, of course, a woman from the biblical epic, whose beauty and intelligence are sending her on a crash course with disaster.
Each character was interesting to read, but I found Salome's sections to be the most enjoyable to read. She felt the most fleshed out, as if the author knew what to do with her character and storyline more than the other two leading ladies. Sometimes Vera and Nancy felt like they were on the edge of that same detail and empathy but never quite made it there.
My biggest disappointment with this novel is that, while the author definitely got into the struggles and weird, PR complexities of studio actors at the time...hardly any time was spent on the actual set of the film they were making (and that the book title references). The few scenes that did take place on set were... kind of inaccurate to how most sets worked back in the day. Not a deal breaker by any means, but I wanted more of the on-set drama. I think it would have added so much for us to see Vera navigating her first role on set. There are so many rules, complicated instructions, and rigid hierarchies. Seeing her struggle and succeed would have given us more insight to her as a character. It also would have given some fun space to see Vera and Nancy interacting on that set in their respective roles.
I think the missing element was what happened while making the movie itself. So much fun could have happened in that setting, but the story barely went there. The characters were good, the plot was interesting, the setting was intriguing...but to me it needed a bit more pizazz to be a truly great story.