Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner- 400 pages
ARC courtesy of Netgalley
Book Blurb:
Los Angeles, Present Day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister’s vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie… Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and lands a job on the film-set of Gone With the Wind. There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star who is now a fellow secretary. Audrey’s zest for life and their adventures together among Hollywood’s glitterati enthrall Violet…until each woman’s deepest desires collide. What Audrey and Violet are willing to risk, for themselves and for each other, to ensure their own happy endings will shape their friendship, and their lives, far into the future.
My Review: 3 stars
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Stars Over Sunset Boulevard was a welcome addition to my reading list as I’m a big fan of Susan Meissner’s other books such as Secrets Of A Charmed Life and A Fall Of Marigolds.
Unfortunately however, I had mixed feelings about this one. I tremendously enjoyed the period setting, the early Hollywood vibe, the symbolism of the nightingale, being on the set of Gone With The Wind and of course, the spectacular friendship the two main protagonists shared. But that was it. I felt the duel time periods didn’t work so well and it was quite obvious to an experienced reader that the mysterious hat would create the somewhat canned conclusion. I also thought the title didn’t fit the many tangled storylines in the book.
Potent themes throughout the book were friendship, guilt, women’s rights, marriage, adoption and truth vs. lies.
Quotes I liked:
“You don’t make serendipity happen.”
“I don’t want to be the one who wants. I want to be the one who is wanted.”
“Don’t ever sleep with a man to get what you want, because you won’t get it. He will, but you won’t.”
“Beauty is all about perception, Vi. Your own perception is right up there with everyone else’s.”
“Unhappiness has an insatiable appetite. It does not care what it might have to kill to feed its cravings.”
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