'Lyrical, thought-provoking prose . . . .This sterling portrait of a complex woman stands head and shoulders above most contemporary WWII fiction.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review).
Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Hollywood Meg Waite Clayton's new novel, Typewriter Beach, is an unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star.
1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard seven-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio’s “fixer” in a tiny Carmel cottage, waiting and dreading.
Meanwhile, next door, Léon Chazan is annoyed as hell when Iz interrupts his work on yet another screenplay he won’t be able to sell, because he’s been blacklisted. Soon, they’re together in his roadster, speeding down the fog-shrouded Big Sur coast.
2018. Twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan, in Carmel to sell her grandfather’s cottage, finds a hidden safe full of secrets—raising questions about who the screenwriter known simply as Chazan really was, and whether she can live up to his name.
In graceful prose and with an intimate understanding of human nature, Meg Waite Clayton captures the joys and frustrations of being a writer, being a woman, being a star, and being in love. Typewriter Beach is the story of two women separated by generations—a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.
Meg Waite Clayton will be in conversation with Yangsze Choo.
About the Author
New York Times bestseller and book club favorite Meg Waite Clayton is the author of nine novels, including the forthcoming international bestsellers The Postmistress of Paris, The Last Train to London and The Wednesday Sisters. Her books have been published in 24 languages. Clayton's screenplay for The Last Train to London was chosen for the prestigious Meryl Streep- and Nicole Kidman-sponsored The Writers Lab. She divides her time between California and Connecticut.
About the Moderator
Yangsze Choo is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghost Bride (now a Netflix original series); The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club Pick, and a Big Jubilee Read selection for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee; and The Fox Wife. She lives in California with her family and loves to eat and read (often at the same time). The Fox Wife and all previous novels would not have been possible without large quantities of dark chocolate.
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