‘The delicately constructed plot keeps you guessing until the end … Waugh creates the early Hollywood world with verve and conviction in this taut, clever and moving novel.’
TLS
Melting Snow on Hester Street
Harper Collins
2013
They saved each other once. Can they save each other again?
It is the blistering summer of 1929 and Hollywood’s glamorous set appear to have it all. Everybody everywhere is living the Hollywood dream, including the elegant and charming, high-society couple, actor and actress Maximilian and Eleanor Beecham. But beneath the sophistication and glamour their insecure and unhappy marriage is on the brink of divorce and their finances are teetering on a knife’s edge after a series of failed films.
When the creditors come in to take possession of the house, it seems all is lost and they have nowhere to turn but into the arms of their waiting lovers.
But when they receive an invitation to one of the legendary weekend house parties at Hearst Castle – which they know will be filled every Hollywood big-shot around – they cannot resist one last shot of making it in the film industry. With gossip, glamour, scandal and decadence the party is the epitome of the Golden Era, but for Maximilian and Eleanor the time has come to make a decision that will change their future.
Will they sacrifice everything for fame and fortune or can Eleanor and Maximilian learn to love each other again?
‘Waugh blends fact and fiction in an intoxicating tale of life under the glittering veneer of Tinsel Town.’
Daily Record
‘This reminded me of Liza Klaussmann’s Tigers in Red Weather… a great companion piece for all the Gatsby fuss around this month… An absorbing, glamorous read.’
Viv Groskop - Red Book Club
‘Sunset Boulevard meets Nancy Mitford.’
Red Magazine
‘Gripping, glamorous and poignant, it’s a cracking tale that will keep you hooked from beginning to end.’
Hello!
‘A dizzy tale about greed, love, fame and money.’
Heat
‘A lubricious new novel … period charm and sexual intrigue.’
Tatler
‘Dazzlingly evoked.’
The Sunday Times
‘Unputdownable.’
The Daily Mail
‘Gripping… powerful, evocative.’
The Lady
‘Written in deft, engrossing prose, this story is dizzy with glamour and heartbreak.’
Easy Living