Typewriter Beach

A Novel

By: Meg Waite Clayton

Narrated by: Gilli Messer

Instant USA Today Bestseller · Washington Post 5 Works of Historical Fiction to Read This Summer · Top 10 Library Read · Los Angeles Times 10 Reads for a Beach Day · Publishers Weekly Summer Read · Woman’s World Book Club Pick · Zibby Books That’ll Make You Swoon · AARP Summer Read · The Today Show Best Historical Fiction for August

Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Hollywood, Typewriter Beach is an unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star.

1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard seven-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio’s “fixer” in a tiny Carmel cottage, waiting and dreading.

Meanwhile, next door, Léon Chazan is annoyed as hell when Iz interrupts his work on yet another screenplay he won’t be able to sell, because he’s been blacklisted. Soon, they’re together in his roadster, speeding down the fog-shrouded Big Sur coast.

2018. Twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan, in Carmel to sell her grandfather’s cottage, finds a hidden safe full of secrets—raising questions about who the screenwriter known simply as Chazan really was, and whether she can live up to his name.

In graceful prose and with an intimate understanding of human nature, Meg Waite Clayton captures the joys and frustrations of being a writer, being a woman, being a star, and being in love. Typewriter Beach is the story of two women separated by generations—a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.

Felt like I was back in Hollywood 1050s

Loved this historical fiction novel about an area I know and a part of Hollywood history I knew little about.

Full and lovable characters and a sweet story of life, loss, and love.

Loved It!

Loved every thing about this book. So good, the story was beautifully told. The heartfelt way Isabel was a bystander in her own life.

What an excellent book!

My goodness Meg! This wonderful book grabbed my interest and my heart from the very beginning. The dual timelines, the story of early Jewish family separations and losses, the McCarthy era blacklisting of Hollywood writers and actors, and the familiar to me backdrop of Carmel that really hasn't changed much over the years. I could smell and feel the wonderful ocean breeze due to your complete but not overwhelming description. And the characters? Oh my, they became so real. I highly recommend this book after listening to the audio version along with the ebook. Now, I will add the hardbound copy to my limited home library.

Outstanding

This book is wonderful on many many levels. You are transported back to 1950s Hollywood, which, in addition to all of the glamour includes the very ugly McCarthy hearings where many many people were
Convicted of trumped up charges, but banned from Hollywood. It is a book of historical fiction so this actual story was not true, but it is based on actual facts. Poignant,touching, sad and uplifting. I recommend it highly to everyone. It is just outstanding.

The narration by Gili Messer has infused the story with a particular vibe that made reading particularly engaging

I had hard time following the names their relationship as the story have unfolded. The rest of the story was quite clear and thanks to the narration the details of who was related to whom became unimportant.