CITY OF FLICKERING LIGHT, a historical fiction novel by Juliette Fay, will be published on April 16th 2019 by Gallery Books.
To escape a traveling burlesque show, three friends – Irene Van Beck, Millie Martin, and Henry Weiss – leap off of moving train. They then make their way to Hollywood in hopes of getting involved in the flourishing silent film industry. Almost everything goes in Prohibition Era Tinseltown, and the three friends are faced with numerous struggles and setbacks as they try to find their niche in Hollywood. While Henry and Millie slowly become stars of the silent screen, Irene remains off-camera as she writes the scripts and directs the movies. Throughout everything, the three rely on each other. But even the strongest of friendships can sometimes falter.
CITY OF FLICKERING LIGHT is a well-written, enjoyable novel set in early 1920s Hollywood. The novel was very well researched. Fay brings the era to life with details of the time period and the silent film industry. She incorporated many real-life events throughout the novel. The three main characters are well-developed, and they all have very interesting backstories. I enjoyed that the chapters moved back-and-forth between the three main character’s perspectives. My only issue with the novel is that the story was too predictable. I didn’t feel like there were any big surprises, and the plot seemed to just plod along. Despite the predictability, the novel is a very fascinating story about the early 1920s, silent films, and the early days of Hollywood.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.