The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of those beloved authors who I will willingly step outside of my comfort zone for, and this novel is a perfect example of why.
Set against the Sword and Sandal era of old Hollywood, I was absolutely transported into this story. I cannot recommend the audiobook format enough. Flawless.
Historical Fiction can often be a drag for me, but I do love Old Hollywood and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s name on a cover. There was never any doubt I was going to read this.
I am glad that I waited the 7-months for my library hold to come through on a copy of the audiobook though. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I would have loved it quite as much if I had read it physically.
The full cast narration of this truly brought this story to life. I love the mixed media aspects that Moreno-Garcia included, making it feel like I was taking in a documentary or podcast. That aspect really shone in the audio-version.
This story follows three main perspectives. Two of these perspectives, Vera and Nancy, are set in 1950s Hollywood. The last perspective is set in biblical times and is that of the Jewish Princess, Salome.
Vera and Nancy are actresses. Vera, an unknown Mexican ingenue, gets cast to play the lead role of Salome in a big-budget movie sure to be a hit. Nancy is a bit player who was eyeing that lead for herself. Her career has stalled, but she’s got a lot of ideas of how great she could be.
If only this stupid girl hadn’t stolen the part from her…
I’ll be honest, I knew nothing of the historical figure of Salome, so it was interesting to learn about her a bit here.
I like how Morena-Garcia presented her story, and then showed how over a thousand years later, her story was still being…manipulated, I guess for lack of a better word. As in life, so in death, her story took on mythical proportions.
I don’t know if this is making sense. I understand it in my brain, but it’s hard to express without giving anything away, or going to far into the details.
The real star of the show for me though was the back-and-forth between Vera and Nancy’s perspectives. You know they are on a collision course with one another, but how?
I just thought everything set in Hollywood, the descriptions of the production, all the people involved, the how and why of everything going on, was so good. There’s also quite a bit of the social scene, which I found equally enticing.
I was surprised how truly invested I became in this. I honestly was expecting to like it, but not love it the way I did. I’m still gobsmacked thinking of it even hours after finishing. It was incredibly-crafted.
I would highly recommend this to Historical Fiction fans, or people who have a great love of the Golden Age of cinema. Also, I cannot stress enough how fabulous the audiobook is; 10/10 recommend that format.
Thank you to Del Rey for providing me with a copy to read and review. Silvia Morena-Garcia is such a talent!!!