This rollicking epistolary novel gives us a secretary's viewpoint of life at a 1930's Hollywood studio through free spirited personal letters, newspaper gossip columns, telegrams, interoffice memos, calendar entries, and the secretary's private journal entries. It was co-authored by Silvia Schulman Lardner, who was David O. Selznick's personal secretary. The main character, Madge Lawrence, is clearly based on Lardner's personal experiences. It is a quick and fun read for anyone who loves classic films or the film making industry.

The book introduction is invaluable to the modern reader, 81 years after the book was first published. It explains who the characters are modeled after as well as personal insight to the authors.

Thanks to #Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my review. 4 stars!

This is a reprint of a 1938 novel, written by the secretary for film producer David O. Selznick. It reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada, but about 1930's Hollywood instead of the fashion industry. There is a great introduction to the novel that explains the history of the novel and important information about the author. Also included is an explanation about which literary character represents which famous real person. Had I read it when it was published, I would have enjoyed it as a biting satire on Hollywood. Reading it in the present day which little knowledge of the people it was making fun of, I still enjoyed it. It's a short, but witty read. Highly entertaining. The story is cleverly told through telegraph messages, inter-office memos, the secretary's private diary and letters home to friends and family. If you have any interest in old Hollywood or historical fiction, you will enjoy this book.

In 1938 Madge Lawrence is a newly-hired secretary for the famous Hollywood producer Sidney Brand. The book is written in the form of letters to Madge’s aunt and friend, production memos, telegrams and journal entries. Brand acquires the rights to a play and plans to make it into a vehicle to star the European newcomer, Sarya Tarn. This book reads like a screwball comedy of the period and lampoons the movie making process with parodies of producers, writers, publicists, actors, gossip columnists and other people involved in this glamorous but sometimes cutthroat world. The movie faces both censorship and casting problems.

The author’s name is a pseudonym for Silvia Schulman Lardner, who worked for producer David O. Selznick, and Jane Shore, a screenwriter. Together they used the pen name in order to protect their jobs. The book was a hit when originally published and Orson Welles bought the radio rights to the book, but it was never made into a movie. It’s too bad that a movie was not made when the book was written because it would be hard today to film (or read) this book as simply a madcap romp without dealing with the inherent sexism. However, as a contemporaneous depiction of a Hollywood studio it was interesting and even fun.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

I Lost My Girlish Laughter by Jane Allen is a throwback novel in the perspective of Madge a secretary for one of Old Hollywood’s executives.
I love anything “old school”, and this novel that is through the narrative of letters, posts, and correspondence, gives the reader an inside look at how we imagined life was like then.

To be able to take a glimpse into that part of American history and see how things were without those rose colored glasses on is fascinating.

This is a great read and the reader is left with wanting to know more. That is a compliment in itself.

4/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC and in return is my voluntary and unbiased review.

I very much enjoyed most of this novel - a re-issue. semi-autobiographical story of a secretary in the movie business in Hollywood 1930's. With a nice mix of mad-cap, not too whimsical or wide-eyed, our heroine arrives in Hollywood armed with a letter of introduction to one of the studios, and soon is working as a secretary/fixer to a movie mogul and juggling a few eligible men...
Sadly has a few sections that are racist, dealing with actors and actresses in jungle scenes of a film, reflecting the time the novel was written. Otherwise a lighthearted glimpse at the movie machine in action in its heyday.

What a fizzy, sparkling book! Maggie, the protagonist, narrates via diary entries, letters, and memos, in a breezy but not shallow tone. (She'd have been played by Rosalind Russell if this had been a 1940s movie.) Even though many of the characters are not people you'd want to spend more than five minutes with, Maggie's depictions of and interactions with them is nothing short of delightful—like this book as a whole. My biggest gripe is that the book ended too soon; I tore through it in two days.

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Breaking into the Hollywood elite is not so easy as Madge finds out. She was in need of a job and a little down, she happened to go out one night. Just for some dinner and maybe a nightcap. She runs into and old friend. He is out with director Max Sellers. They hit the town, pretending Madge is an up and coming in Hollywood. Upon making this friendship he assures her that he can get her a job. And he does she starts working for Hollywood producer Sidney Brand as his secretary. Brand has this new film coming that he needs to cast for. His leading lady is someone no on has heard of, Sarya Tarn. So Brand wants Clark Gable for the co-star. It is a whirl wind business and Madge gets first glimpse of it all!


This is a lot of letters and western unions of correspondent's between Madge and her aunt as well as inter office. I like the inside look of early Hollywood. The book keeps a good pace and has many exciting parts that keeps the page turning.

(Once there is a cover photo I will post a picture to my Instagram and post the review to my blog.)