Selznick’s Girl Friday

A Novel of 1939 Hollywood (The Hollywood's Greatest Year Trilogy, Book 1)

By: Martin Turnbull

Narrated by: Linda Graves

Polly Maddox lives under the sheltering wing of Santa Catalina Island, her world as small and idyllic as the isolated cove where her father ran a not-so-secret moonshine operation during Prohibition. But when he’s accused of a startling crime and goes on the lam, Polly’s life capsizes, leaving her with little choice but to flee toward the gleaming mirage of 1939 Los Angeles.

Armed only with lightning-fast fingers and a sharp wit, Polly talks her way into the executive suite of demanding, brilliant movie producer, David O. Selznick, as he labors over his most ambitious project: a film the rest of Hollywood scornfully dismisses as “Selznick’s Folly.”

As Polly gets swept into the chaos of filming “Gone with the Wind,” she realizes Selznick may hold a clue to where she might find her father—but does he have murky motives of his own? Undaunted, Polly’s battle to clear her father’s name thrusts her directly into the path of a ruthless insider—and he plays for keeps. Polly must outmaneuver his insidious ploys in a town where favors and fraud reign hand-in-hand.

From the author of the Garden of Allah novels comes book one in the Hollywood’s Greatest Year trilogy. This delightfully nostalgic yet gripping tale promises to transport you to a time when movies were larger than life and Hollywood was reaching its golden zenith.

©2024 Martin Turnbull (P)2024 Martin Turnbull

The narrator

Great character development and variety of voices. Linda graves rocks . Too much Hollywood and name dropping for me.

movie industry in 1939

It was so fun hearing about all the activity in Hollywood in 1939. I knew there were a lot of great movies made that year but I had no idea about all the project management headaches that we’re going on behind the scenes.