Stars Over Sunset Boulevard

by Susan Meissner
Hennepin County Library paperback 352 pages
genre: historical fiction

I read this over a week ago and book club discussed it exactly a week ago. Upshot? Not Meissner's best, but pleasant enough. The modern-day frame story was not very effective or purposeful; it's just a Meissner technique that actually distracts in this book.

Violet Mayfield heads to Hollywood in 1938 after "her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart." She gets a job as a secretary, meets and moves in with Audrey Duvall (almost a decade older, far more glamorous and worldly, but also a secretary). The two women share their stories and lives bit by bit until jealousy and lies wreak havoc. It's a bit overwrought.

There was definitely a theme of being wanted. "It's intoxicating to be treated like you're a rare gem. There's no other feeling in the world like it." (page 14) When Audrey is talking about what Selznick did to get Clark Gable to play Rhett in Gone with the Wind, she says, "Can you imagine being wanted that way? Can you imagine what that must feel like?"

There were two places where I wondered if proofreaders exist any more. Page 132 has "Audrey watched Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara continue her search for Dr. Meade. She imagined herself in the drab . . . " (Shouldn't it be "continued"?) And on page 276, "Why are you are here?" (Verbatim. Read it aloud.)

Page 252 resonated very strongly for me. Violet is parenting little Lainie solo AND caring for her mother-in-law while Bert is off in the military. Her resentment toward her m-i-l . . . yeah. I get that.

On page 322 (and in other spots), I was struck by the strong bond of friendship between these two women. That made Violet's pettiness seem even more pointless.

I loved this! "'That hat is the color of envy and greed,' Violet murmured. 'Not always. Not today.' Audrey took her hand in a gesture of solidarity. 'Today green is the color of life springing up out of the earth, Violet. Today it's the color of new beginnings.'"

In the reader's guide and Q and A with the author, I was disappointed in Meissner's comment that fear and love are closely intertwined. I don't agree. I was also surprised that the title of the book didn't seem nearly as significant as something about the nightingale would have been. The book was less Christian that her previous books . . . and Jodi pointed out that she's with a different publisher now. I hope this is not a sign of the "new" Meissner. I like her older books better!