TYPEWRITER BEACH

Gilli Messer's narration elevates this slow-moving Hollywood novel spanning two generations. In 1957, blond contract starlet Iz Giori hopes to be Hitchcock's latest star, but when she becomes pregnant, the studio hides her away until they "take care" of things. Leo Chazan, a blacklisted screenwriter who refused to name names during the McCarthy/HUAC hearings, lives in the cottage next door, writing screenplays under aliases to earn a living. Messer makes the time switch to 2018 with ease when Leo's granddaughter, Gemma, also a screenwriter, arrives to clean out her late grandfather's cottage and meets Iz. While the story has lots of name-dropping with little substance and is a little long in the telling, Messer does especially well as narrator. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2025]