The Garden on Sunset

Relive the golden days of Hollywood~

The Garden on Sunset: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood's Garden of Allah Novels Book 1)
(Free on Kindle!)

Summary (via Goodreads): When Marcus Adler’s father runs him out of Pennsylvania, he can think of only one place to go: 8152 Sunset Boulevard, the home of luminous silent screen star Alla Nazimova, who visited him on his sickbed when he was a child. But when Marcus gets to Hollywood, Madame Nazimova’s home has been converted to a hotel. 

Marcus checks into The Garden of Allah and starts his new life. He soon finds friends in Kathryn Massey, who ran away from her overbearing stage mother to become a journalist, and Gwendolyn Brick, a hopeful actress from the Other Hollywood—Hollywood, Florida—who wants to try her luck in Glitter City. 

The three naïve hopefuls band together to tread water against a tidal wave of threadbare casting couches, nervous bootleggers, human billboards, round-the-world zeppelins, sinking gambling boats, waiters in blackface, William Randolph Hearst, the Long Beach earthquake, starlets, harlots, Harlows and Garbos. But how will they get their feet inside Hollywood’s golden door?

Review (4/5 Stars): I found this as a a free download through BookBub  and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I loved being thrust back in time to when Hollywood was still barely just a dream and "talkies" we're thought to be a passing fad.

What I really loved is that none of the characters hit it big overnight. Sure, some scenes seem to be a bit of a stretch of what could really happen, but who knows, it's Hollywood, and even in the good old days I'm sure a bit of craziness ruled the day.

Each of the characters had enough time in the main story and they all interact well together. I like their struggles and the funny antics that they all get up to.

The closer I got to the end the more I kept wondering how certain story lines were going to wrap up quickly. I'm actually quite happy that there are sequels to this novel and I can hang out with the three main characters again and again and that their stories haven't ended just yet.

I found this strange little silent footage on YouTube that shows Hollywood as it was in the late 20's.


What do you think the stars of the 20's would think of Hollywood and all of its excesses today?  Leave a comment below~