Review by louisekf - Typewriter Beach

louisekf 's review for:

Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite Clayton

4.5

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Typewriter Beach transports the reader to 1950s California and the Hollywood blacklist/HUAC red scare delirium. In addition, as with so many historical fiction books, we have a modern-day narrative, this time in 2018. While I found myself more fascinated with the 1957-58 story, I enjoyed the connections created with the 2018 story.

First line: “Her hair - that was the first thing they changed, even before they changed her name, before her first screen test…”

1957: Isabella Giori, a young actress trying to succeed in Hollywood, under contract to a film studio (as was typical then), is sent to a cottage in Carmel for some mysterious reason. We find out why at about the 1/3 point. There she meets Leon/Leo Chazan, a blacklisted screenwriter also in Carmel, living next door. He assumes she’s there to privately testify (to name names) for the HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee). They strike up a friendship, which lasts far longer than either one expected it to. We gradually get Leo’s backstory, starting at about the halfway mark.

2018: Chazan has died. His granddaughter, Gemma, comes up to Carmel to clear out his cottage. She’s a screenwriter too, and grew up coming up there with her mother, who has also died recently. Gemma and Leo had a wonderful relationship and she’s brokenhearted over his death, even though she realizes he was 94. Gemma has had little success as a writer thus far, and has experienced the dark side of being a woman in Hollywood, that gradually became known through the MeToo movement. Once in Carmel, she meets Isabel/Iz and Sam, a young man who lives nearby and has created a popular video game.

The chapters bounce back and forth but they are clearly labeled so there is no confusion whatsoever for the reader.

My heart broke for Leo and all the other writers who were blacklisted for any number of reasons and basically lost their livelihood. This story takes place when McCarthyism was still going on but his influence was waning (finally!). In fact, the story mentions his death that year - but that didn’t stop HUAC’s work, unfortunately.

It’s a bit of a slow burn, but stay with it and it pays off. So many secrets… and a beautiful ending. Don’t miss this book.

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

NOTE: Quote is from an advance copy and may not be exactly the same in the finished book.

Content Warnings