Silvia Moreno-Garciad is the ultimate writing chameleon. Looking for a good horror? She's got you covered with Mexican Gothic and Silver Nitrate. Looking for a magical fairytale? Gods of Jade and Shadow is your perfect next read. And now she's back with another historical drama (you know, after you finish reading The Daughter of Doctor Moreau) that will transport you to another grand tale that will absolutely mesmerize you as you to the fullest.
Cosmopolitan has an exclusive look at Silvia's new book, The Seventh Veil of Salome, which is set to be released on August 6, 2024. The novel takes place in 1950s Hollywood bringing all the glamour to life as we follow two actresses who are in different moments in their career as they chase fame. Ready for your close up? Here's some more info from our friends at Del Rey:
A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine—but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.
"Whenever I want to read a book I know will be good, I go to Silvia Moreno-Garcia."—Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
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.
And now you can dive into the script book yourself with an exclusive excerpt that you can check out below! Just make sure to pre-order The Seventh Veil of Salome and also pick up Silvia's past releases while you're at it!
An Excerpt From The Seventh Veil of SalomeBy Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I'd spent most of the day tucked away at the Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard, working through a pile of notes. The high-backed, padded red leather booths were the perfect hiding spot for harried writers trying to wade their way through script changes and boy did I have script changes.
Some folks called Max Niemann a bully and others called him a genius. I called him an obsessive workaholic. I was working on yet another draft of The Seventh Veil of Salome and I was the third writer that Niemann had hired. His propensity for new notes was enough to send any scribe howling out the door, but I didn't mind him.
After a couple of whiskey sours and a plate of grilled lamb kidneys, I headed back to the studio to deliver the pages Niemann had been asking about. Pacific Pictures was a mid-size player. The gorillas in the business were MGM, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. The crown jewels of Hollywood. Then you had RKO, Universal, Columbia and of course Pacific Pictures. We were not providers of Poverty Row fare, like Grand National, but we didn't have MGM's dazzling facilities either. We made a heck of a lot of mindless comedies, our share of corny romances and dramas, and a couple of big budget opuses each year. Just as you'd expect, like clockwork.
Things were changing, though, in more than one way, around town. The antitrust case against the majors dealt a blow to the mega studios and TV was picking up speed and viewers. Charlie Chaplin sold his studio at La Brea after being declared persona non grata in the US and a bunch of writers decamped to Mexico for fear of the The House Committee on Un-American Activities. I'd stayed put, for now. The HCUA had lots of us spooked, but I needed the work and work meant living in Hollywood.
So nu, anyway, that's not what your documentary is about, I know. Salome, let's talk about her.
Among all this hustle and bustle, there was Max Niemann's elusive Seventh Veil of Salome. It was one of those sword-and-sandals flicks that were terribly popular back in the day. You were not a real studio if every couple of years you didn't have at least one picture with a camel, a palace and a garbage plot thinly inspired by a Biblical story. Hedy Lamarr squeezed the biceps of Victor Mature in Samson and Delilah, Gregory Peck romanced Susan Hayward in David and Bathsheba, and now it was Niemann's – and my turn – to make more meat for the masses, like an employee stuffing sausages for the Hebrew National Kosher Sausage Factory, except when you worked there you got to eat a tasty sausage.
Niemann's project had been in the works forever and Fred Dressler was breathing down his neck. They'd start shooting soon, no doubt about it, and if the studio was lucky Niemann wouldn't return with a three-hour monstrosity. Niemann was good, but he was stubborn, and we were already making bets of how far behind the production would fall once it began what was sure to be at minimum a ninety-day shoot.
At the lot I ran into Harry Merriam, who was a serviceable writer of women's pictures and a great gossip. He pulled me aside and told me that Niemann had tested a girl and had finally found his Salome.
"Sure, and I'm Burt Lancaster," I said.
Niemann had screen tested every actress in town for over a year and hadn't signed anyone. Word was the screen tests were a publicity stunt and he was desperately trying to get his hands on Jane Russell, and the sexy brunette wasn't biting. She was finishing a stint at RKO at the time. She'd just done an adventure flick for them, Underwater!, which had sailed into rough seas after a model called Lyn Jones sued the company for using her as an uncredited body double in publicity pictures. Then, at the premiere for Underwater!, which had taken place in a swimming pool, Jayne Mansfield's bikini top had popped off, a neat trick which soon became a regular occurrence with Jayne.
Jane Russell was probably fed up with gimmicky flicks like that and likely suspected The Seventh Veil of Salome was another silly gimmick. Anyhow, no Russell and no Mansfield had been signed, but that wasn't my business.
"The girl's a nobody," Harry said.
"Now I know it's a lie," I replied. If Niemann couldn't snatch a bona fide star, surely he'd avail himself of a semi-famous starlet or a pretty pin-up. There were heaps of girls itching to get a crack at films. "Max's not going to have a nobody anchor his flick, and even if he'd wanted to, Dressler won't let him. They'll grab a cheap, reliable, contract player, mark my words."
"You haven't seen her. She's a real peach of a girl. They're giving her a tour of the studio."
"Fekakte," I said and took out a cigarette and then, just as we were beginning to talk about other business, Harry pointed excitedly to the building in front of us.
"There she is. That's the girl. That's Salome."
She was wearing a simple, yellow sundress and sandals and her hair hung loose to her shoulders. She had a nice figure, but so did many budding stars, often with the help of strategic padding. She had a pretty face, but a good makeup artist can make a siren out of a dumpy librarian. A pouty, kissable mouth. Half a dozen girls at a soda fountain could equal that. A certain elegance in the walk elevated her a tad, perhaps, but that can be learned.
And then the girl looked at us, as if sensing our gaze, her wide eyes locking with mine for one second before she looked away, a nervous, hesitant smile dancing on her lips. Shyness warring with delight, with pride; poise and caution in the turn of the head. Charming, but more than that it was the gesture, the look, of the character as I'd imagined her. Temptress and vestal maiden in one.
As you write a story you hope for the best when it comes to casting. Sometimes actors are close to the mark, and often they're far from what you pictured when building the part. This, however, was the first time I'd seen a character I'd been working on drift off the page and into a studio lot, breathing, walking, living.
I immediately saw what the casting director must have glimpsed; the luscious, exciting possibilities that lay ahead. The girl, swaddled in silks and sequins, set against exotic vistas and sand dunes with dramatic music punctuating her entrance. But even standing there in a sundress with a flower print, with nothing but the California sun to light her face, the truth was plain to see. This, there was no denying it, was Salome in the flesh.
It's a tragedy what befell her. How do you tell a tragedy, anyway? For all the artistic tricks a writer can deploy, I suppose the only way to do it is you start by saying there once was a girl…
Excerpt from THE SEVENTH VEIL OF SALOME by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, copyright © 2024 by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Used by permission of Del Rey, an imprint of Random House Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
The Seventh Veil of Salome, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia will be released on July 30, 2024. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice:
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