In writing my two most recent novels – All the Gin Joints and Thank Your Lucky Stars, I was focused on depicting the home front during WWII. And because I write about life in and around Los Angeles during the studio era’s heyday, that’s where my Hollywood Home Front trilogy played out. More specifically at Warner Bros., who were hitting their stride with Sergeant York, The Maltese Falcon, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Now, Voyager, Casablanca, This Is the Army, Destination Tokyo, Pride of the Marines, and Mildred Pierce to name only a few of the classic movies they were producing under the leadership of Jack Warner, the most patriotic and pro-war-effort of all the movie moguls.

When it came to researching book three, I found myself reading about how everybody looked forward to “getting back to normal” after the end of the war. What they didn’t realize, however, was there was no longer a normal to get back to. Surviving through terrible, wrenching experiences had changed the men–how could it not? Meanwhile, the women had taken on jobs once considered the men’s domain and discovered they were more than capable—and were being paid more than they ever dreamed possible. “Getting back to normal” was a trickier proposition than many people realized, and that is great fodder for a novelist.

I’m still tweaking the manuscript ahead of shipping it off to my editor, but I’m now ready to reveal the title, cover art, and book description:

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS

a novel of World War II Hollywood

by
Martin Turnbull
Book 3 in the Hollywood Home Front trilogy

~oOo~

When the curtain rises on an entirely new life, some will stumble and some will soar.

With the end of World War II finally in sight, Ensign Luke Valenti heads home to Los Angeles, eager to be reunited with the girl he left behind. As Luke navigates his rocky transition to peacetime, he yearns for a quiet return to civilian life, but discovers the US Navy plans to make him its war-hero poster boy and keep him squarely in the spotlight.

On the other side of fame sits Luke’s home-front sweetheart, Nell Davenport, who blossoms in an unexpected career. Thrilled by the excitement following her musical debut, Nell is unaware that every step she takes on the precarious road to success brings her and Luke closer to a revelation that could shatter the fragile life they are struggling to rebuild amid the aftermath of war.

From the author of the Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels comes book three in the Hollywood Home Front trilogy. You Must Remember This is the story of two people striving to adapt to a world they no longer know.

~oOo~

You Must Remember This is due out April 2023

You can read the first chapter HERE

~oOo~

~oOo~

Also by Martin Turnbull:

The Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels

Book 1 – The Garden on Sunset
Book 2 – The Trouble with Scarlett
Book 3 – Citizen Hollywood
Book 4 – Searchlights and Shadows
Book 5 – Reds in the Beds
Book 6 – Twisted Boulevard
Book 7 – Tinseltown Confidential
Book 8 – City of Myths
Book 9 – Closing Credits

Chasing Salomé: a novel of 1920s Hollywood

The Heart of the Lion: a novel of Irving Thalberg’s Hollywood

The Hollywood Home Front trilogy:
Book 1 – All the Gin Joints
Book 2 – Thank Your Lucky Stars
Book 3 – You Must Remember This

~oOo~