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Title details for Woman Enters Left by Jessica Brockmole - Available

Woman Enters Left

A Novel

by Jessica Brockmole
ebook
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A woman sets out on a cross-country road trip, unknowingly tracing in reverse the path her mother traveled thirty years before.
“Tender, touching, original, and rich with delicious period detail of Hollywood’s heyday—buckle up, because you’ll definitely want to go on a road trip after reading this delightful book!”—Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home
In the 1950s, movie star Louise Wilde is caught between an unfulfilling acting career and a shaky marriage when she receives an out-of-the-blue phone call: She has inherited the estate of Florence “Florrie” Daniels, a Hollywood screenwriter she barely recalls meeting. Among Florrie’s possessions are several unproduced screenplays, personal journals, and—inexplicably—old photographs of Louise’s mother, Ethel. On an impulse, Louise leaves a film shoot in Las Vegas and sets off for her father’s house on the East Coast, hoping for answers about the curious inheritance and, perhaps, about her own troubled marriage.
Nearly thirty years earlier, Florrie takes off on an adventure of her own, driving her Model T westward from New Jersey in pursuit of broader horizons. She has the promise of a Hollywood job and, in the passenger seat, Ethel, her best friend since childhood. Florrie will do anything for Ethel, who is desperate to reach Nevada in time to reconcile with her husband and reunite with her daughter. Ethel fears the loss of her marriage; Florrie, with long-held secrets confided only in her journal, fears its survival.
In parallel tales, the three women—Louise, Florrie, Ethel—discover that not all journeys follow a map. As they rediscover their carefree selves on the road, they learn that sometimes the paths we follow are shaped more by our traveling companions than by our destinations.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 8, 2017

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780399178528
      • File size: 4708 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780399178528
      • File size: 4708 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      September 15, 2017

      In 1917, Ethel's best friend Florence shows up at her doorstep waving an ad for a factory job painting radium dials on watches. Florence, who has always been in love with Ethel, doesn't wipe the radium glow off of her lips as she works, hoping to match Ethel's natural effervescence. In 1926, Ethel's husband, Carl, has left her and taken their daughter to a ranch in Nevada to wait out the time it takes to file for divorce. Meanwhile, Florence comes to visit, and Ethel impulsively decides to go on a road trip with her. Riding rough in a Model T, they sleep in campgrounds and cook over a fire. Florence is losing her teeth, and Ethel has ankle pains that never seem to heal. In 1952, Ethel's daughter Louise, a Hollywood movie star, travels to Vegas to escape from a failing marriage and career troubles, uncovering family secrets along the way. VERDICT In Brockmole's (Letters from Skye; At the Edge of Summer) poignant novel, multiple time lines work together to flesh out the characters' stories. There may be additional interest in this book owing to Kate Moore's recent nonfiction work, Radium Girls.--Jennifer Mills, Shorewood-Troy Lib., IL

      Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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