"Chasing Salome" - a novel of 1920s Hollyywood by Martin Turnbull

CHASING SALOMÉ

a novel of 1920s Hollywood

by Martin Turnbull

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BOOK DESCRIPTION

Hollywood, 1920

Alla Nazimova has reached the pinnacle of success. She is the highest-paid actress in town, with a luxurious estate, the respect of her peers, adoration of her fans, and a series of lovers that has included the first wife of her protégé, Rudolph Valentino.

But reaching the top is one thing. Staying there is an entirely different matter.

Nazimova dreams of producing a motion picture of Oscar Wilde’s infamous Salomé. It will be a new form of moviemaking: the world’s first art film.

But the same executives at Metro Pictures who hailed Nazimova as a genius when she was churning out hit after hit now turn their backs because her last few movies have flopped.

Taking matters into her own hands, Nazimova decides to shoot Salomé herself. But it means risking everything she has: her reputation, her fortune, her beautiful home, and even her lavender marriage. But will it be enough to turn her fortunes around? Or will Hollywood cut her out of the picture?

From the author of the Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels and based on a true story, Chasing Salomé takes us inside Nazimova’s struggle to achieve a new level of stardom by raising the flickers to an art form.

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READ CHAPTER ONE NOW

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Amazon reviews:

5 STARS – Chasing Salome is the best book of the year
Martin Turnbull has hit another one out of the stands. Old Movies and movie stars and the people who make movies seems to be his area of expertise. All of his books are masterpieces. This is the book that might have been the first of his series but wasn’t. I waited for a year to read and read in a night because I could not put it down. Madame is the reason there was a Garden of Allah. Reading what she was about way before her time in the 1920’s when she was forced to turn her home into a famous landmark in Hollywood California Hotel, is a fascinating story. I literally could not put it down.

5 STARS – Alla Nazimova, early Hollywood, the women who shaped film
Another winner from Martin Turnbull. Set before his “Garden of Alla” stories this is a wonderful telling of Alla Nazimova’s Hollywood story. Meticulously researched as always, this is a wonderful tribute to a strong, talented and wonderful woman who was definitely among those who shaped the early film industry. I hope this is made into a film!

Goodreads reviews:

5 STARS
Fantastic book! I’m transported back to the era of the moviemakers in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. From the male dominated companies to women trying to enter the movie business, Alla Nazimova tried it all (almost). Excellent historical fiction!well worth the read for anyone.

5 STARS
As in all the previous novels, once you start it is an all night reading experience. This is an amazing look into a true Hollywood Legend.

5 STARS
Martin Turnbull does not disappoint. This peek into the life of Alla Nazimova, as told from her perspective, illuminates the hard knocks of being a woman in the latter stages of the silent era. But, damn, that Nazimova took every setback and still kept going. If I ever have half that spirit of perseverance, I’ll consider myself fortunate. Turnbull’s charming prose cradles Nazimova in a sympathetic and respectful cocoon, and I can’t think of any better way to honor her. I actually feel inspired by her story to pursue my own goals with her indomitable passion. If I fail, well, I’ll just try something new. Like Alla.

Barnes & Noble review:

5 STARS – The lights of a Broadway stage separate the star from her audience…
The lights of a Broadway stage separate the star from her audience even though we think they expose everything. The image of a silent movie star is locked up on a screen and frozen in that short era of the 1920s. But this book has let Alla Nazimova step off the stage and through the screen to live again and tell her story. And it’s so refreshing to hear it told without the ‘shocking’ Hollywood urban legends that only have yellow journalism ‘facts’ to back them up. Or to try to put everyone into those labeled boxes sorted by their sexuality or their vices. They are either one thing or another and that’s all they were. So so not true!

Each character is filled out and shown in a very believable way that helps explain the choices they made and the everyday pressures they were under. We ask how does someone go bankrupt making $1,500 a week with no taxes and grand meals costing pennies on the dollar? Very easy when you are footing the bill of everyone around you and the studios are using every trick in the book to see that they aren’t paying for anything. This book shows us the mechanics behind that land of make believe and the people who lived it.

Madame’s friends and lovers ebb and flow through her life bringing joy and pain just as they do in our lives. And through those relationships a few lessons learned about herself and her craft. It’s the story of a woman who made it to the top not only in New York but also Hollywood and paid the price to do it her way. And never regretted making that hard choice to stay true to herself.

Did she love too freely? Let her jealousy and pride cost her what she wanted most? Was she selfish and bullheaded in her choices? Aren’t we all?

But have we learned that great lesson that gave her the ability to have no regrets? That the only true sin is to tell yourself a lie.

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