Have you ever wanted to climb into a time machine and visit Hollywood during its heyday?When you live in a city built on shifting sands of myth, it can be hard to know which way is up.Kathryn Massey spends her days spreading rumors and keeping secrets. Losing herself one headline at a time has left Kathryn’s personal identity scattered—and dumps her at the narrow end of the bargaining table with … dumps her at the narrow end of the bargaining table with the man she trusts the least.
Gwendolyn Brick has simpler aspirations. As a costume designer, her sights are set on glamour, not heights of fame. But her friendship with Marilyn Monroe puts her directly into the crosshairs of studio head, Darryl Zanuck—and he’s someone you don’t say no to.
Marcus Adler is stuck in a much more precarious situation. Exiled in Rome but under the spell of an unexpected romance, he’ll have to learn to say goodbye to everything he’s accomplished in order to give love a chance.
In City of Myths, the road through Hollywood bears sharply to the right as those who dare to play its game can easily become lost in its intoxicating glow.
Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels:
Martin Turnbull’s Garden of Allah novels have been optioned for the screen by film & television producer, Tabrez Noorani.
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Your Garden of Allah novels are rich in the history and lore of classic era Hollywood. What was your original inspiration?
I came across an online article about the Garden of Allah Hotel, which opened as “The Jazz Singer” ushered in the talkies. The Garden’s residents witnessed the unfolding evolution of Hollywood and actively participated in it.
How has writing these novels changed your view of this golden age that we perceive as the greatest era of film production?
L.A. was a much less densely populated city. Consequently, all movie industry workers were far more likely to know each other. People moved from MGM to Paramount to Twentieth Century-Fox to RKO to Warner Bros. Two or three degrees of separation were usually enough!
Why did you not go the safe route and change the names of the major players to suit your story?
The whole point of recounting the history of Hollywood through the eyes of the Garden’s residents was because so many celebrities lived there. Harpo Marx and Sergei Rachmaninoff were neighbors, F. Scott Fitzgerald played charades with Dorothy Parker, Errol Flynn got drunk, Ginger Rogers was always looking for a tennis partner, and Bogart courted Bacall. I figured: Why tell it if I’m going to change the names?
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Book 8 is just as good as Book 1 and all the books in between. It’s not easy to sustain a series this long without losing quality, but Mr. Turnbull does it with great storytelling, great characters and great background. I love the way he keeps the story balanced between the three main characters. Marcus, Kathryn and Gwendolyn.
My Mother and I were old movie fans, and since she grew up in the 30’s and 40’s, she loved to gossip with me about the old Hollywood stars and their scandalous lives. What fun to revisit all of that in this series.
I cannot recommend these book too highly. But, you must read them in order to get the full flavor starting with The Garden on Sunset.
I LOVE this series of books. It has been fun reading about the golden era of Hollywood. Though this is a work of fiction, it is set in an actual setting and time and actual people walk through the story lines. I adore the main characters. Wish they were my friends. 🙂
Just finished book 8 in the Garden of Allah series, as usual got swept thru the portal into another time and place! Down the rabbit hole again, read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Martin Turnbull’s series on Hollywood is among my most favs, he keeps me wanting to know what’s going on with his trio of main characters. The weaving Hollywood history and real characters the story of Katherine, Gwendolyn & Marcus is so seamless it feels like you’re there watching as events unfold and he makes you care how things will work out for each of the them. Turnbull captures the rhythm & vibe of the times accurately and always has an interesting tale to tell. If you haven’t check these out, please do!
Number 8 takes place in Italy (Marcus) and Hollywood (Gwendolyn & Katherine) during the 50’s, it’s pretty much the end of blacklisting and McCarthyism. You get Marilyn/ DiMaggio, Frank/ Ava, and the infamous wrong door incident. Betty Davis, Errol Flynn, Bogie & Bacall, Darryl Zanuck, Ingrid Bergman & Betty Grable to name a few and the TV era is just beginning. So, kick back, get a glass of wine (or whatever) and enjoy.
I loved and highly recommend the whole series, the author has done amazing research to seamlessly blend the history of Hollywood’s golden age with the main characters for a fun, engrossing series that is impossible to put down.