The Seventh Veil of Salome might rival Mexican Gothic for my favorite Silvia Moreno-Garcia book. Talk about a story which examines stories, women, fame, and ambition. It’s this historical fiction epic with multiple POVs and a story about legends. Keep reading this book review of The Seventh Veil of Salome for my full thoughts.
Summary
1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.
So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.
Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.
But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.
Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Seventh Veil of Salome is a story centered around three women. About actresses chosen, snubbed, and the legend herself. It’s a world of greased palms and appearances, favors and debts. In this historical fiction which spans both Ancient Rome and 1950s Hollywood we witness the same power plays, betrayal, and entitlement. The ways we will pursue what we think we deserve, how fiercely we will fight for the things we thought were ours from the start. And how it feels when we are robbed, stolen, and our future is dashed.
There’s Salome’s passion, the way her future is pushed from her hands and taken away from her. But how can she re-assert her own voice? And in many ways, The Seventh Veil of Salome is about these women’s desires to take control of their own voice. To control their legacy, the stories we tell, and the images of the truth. In the 1950s, Vera faces the racism, rabid Hollywood press and gossip magazines, and the sway of old power. How there’s this hypocrisy of capitalizing on the ‘ethnic’ while also the inequalities within society and on set.
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How can we fight for our voices? And, in the end, how will we live our own lives? The world will say what they want about us, write what they want, but how will we let that change how we live? The Seventh Veil of Salome is about ambition. It’s also about love and when we fall in love with a person who reflects the best at us, or the worse. The blurry lines between love and rage. It also asks us who is Salome to everyone. To the director, to Vera, Nancy, and to herself. The myths behind women, what women become in myths and how their stories and motivations are cast
Find The Seventh Veil of Salome on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.