I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a historical fiction set in Old Hollywood during the Sword and Sandal era of film-making. Vera is a young Mexican woman working in her father’s dentist office when she’s scouted out to star in the upcoming The Seventh Veil of Salome. Little does she or anyone else know that Nancy, an American woman who wants stardom, isn’t going to accept Vera’s potential rise to stardom.

The multi-POV structure really worked for me, shifting between Vera, Nancy, Salome herself, and a rotating cast of people who worked on the film or had inside knowledge. The structure creates three timelines: the cast and crew are, mostly, after the set of the book’s main storyline, Salome’s is set during the time of John the Baptist, and Vera and Nancy are mostly during the time of filming. The Salome POV gives the reader a view of what the movie’s story arc would have been and intertwines with Vera and Nancy’s story more and more.

I really liked Vera and her character arc. There was a lot of growth from someone who does what she thinks she’s supposed to do and tries to please her mother to someone who will be firm in what she wants and what she needs. Vera’s love of music played into her romance with Jay, a son of a wealthy business owner and an aspiring jazz musician, who also catches Nancy’s eye.

Content warning for period-typical racism

I would recommend this to fans of Old Hollywood films, particularly in the era of Hedy Lamarr and Audrey Hepburn, readers looking for multiple-POV works of historical fiction, and fans of Silvia Morenp-Garcia.

I've read everything Silvia Moreno-Garcia has written and I am once again amazed at her talent in so many different areas. No two books follow any kind of formula and to be honest, could have been written by different authors.. In this case the setting was similar to the last book and I enjoyed the world of movie making again, this time in Hollywood. The author's note is very enlightening as to the inspiration for this book. I did not know about Oscar Wilde's play, for example. A reminder of what Hollywood was all about in the 1950s was much appreciated also. At first I wasn't sure the multiple viewpoints was going to work but ultimately, at the end, I realize how clever it was a fantastic way to move the plot along at a good pace while we got to know the characters and their motivation. LOVED IT! The author creates such an amazing experience for the reader; atmospheric with an underlying sense of dread/suspense througout. Thank you to all for letting me read this early so I can sing its praises as I wait for the next one!

The Seventh Veil of Salome is another good story by an author whose work has become must read material, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. While feeling fresh and new, I feel that Salome does not beat books such as Mexican Gothic, Velvet is the Night or Daughter of Dr. Moreau as her best book.

Beautifully written with a dual story, they both sucked me in immediately. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a wonder! She writes so many books that are vastly different from each other, but manages to do it all well!

I received an early copy through Netgalley, but all opinions are my own.

The Seventh Veil of Salome is Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s triple timeline, noir-esque tale of Old Hollywood, Biblical lust, and delusion. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In lesser hands, this story would have been over-full and overwrought. This author handles all the drama, all the characters, all the time jumps with ease and clarity.

This is our story: In the modern timeline, a documentary is being made about the 1950’s “sword-and-sandal” epic The Seventh Veil of Salome and surviving members of the cast and crew are being interviewed. The casting and filming of the movie is the second timeline. We meet Nancy Hartley, a wildly ambitious, wildly mediocre extra who begins a one-sided rivalry with the movie’s unlikely star, Vera Larios. And in the third timeline we follow the story of Salome herself, with all its intrigue and (historically inaccurate) romance.

The modern documentary interviews are short, but they add interesting insights into the other stories. Salome’s story is a richly imagined tale-well-told and the part I found most interesting. But it was the making of the movie that provided the most food for thought.

The studio system is showing the cracks that will eventually break it apart, discrimination against even the most famous Black, Latine, and LGBTQ+ artists has hit an all-time low, and McCarthyism has sent blacklisted creatives into hiding or exile. The push and pull of 1950’s ‘traditional’ family values vs. modern sensibilities is played out through the experiences of Vera. And Nancy searches relentlessly for her version of The American Dream, but at what cost?

My one problem with this book is that, after an amazing buildup, like a low, steady drumbeat of dread barely audible under everything that happened, the ending of the 1950’s storyline was rushed and anticlimactic. The author focused so much care and attention on the end of Salome’s story, while Vera and Nancy’s stories felt trivialized.

That was my only objection, however, and I rated this 4 ½ stars. I highly recommend The Seventh Veil of Salome for fans of classic Hollywood movies and their stars, those who don’t mind some light tinkering with Biblical tales, or readers looking for some really epic historical fiction.

This was stunning! I love Moreno-Gracia’s writing as well as her unique stories. All the women who are focused on in this story were amazing. There was nothing I would change about this story.

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a story set in the 1950's about Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican woman who ends up being cast as Salome in a big-budget movie. Every actress wanted to be cast in this role so Vera quickly becomes the talk of the town as she is not someone who would have typically been cast. Readers follow Vera’s journey as she tries to portray the role of Salome and figure out her own identity.

The way this story was told was unique. It focuses on three women as the main characters: Vera Larios, Salome, and Nancy Hartley, an actress who refuses to accept Vera's casting as Salome. The story unfolds via documentary-style narration from multiple characters and firsthand narration from multiple characters. It took me a little bit to get into the story but once I did I was hooked. I found myself curious about how things would resolve. The story has a bit of a thriller element to it as well with how the story unfolds. I tend to read for casual enjoyment without analyzing the layers of the stories but if you like to analyze then this book is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting me an eBook ARC in return for my honest review. This book is expected to be published on July 16, 2024.

Silvia does it again. What a novel. I was highly, highly anticipating this one, because I thought the premise was so cool and I knew that Silvia had the chops to deliver. It took a second to really get cooking, but once it did, I was fully absorbed. It's hard to find a genre fiction writer like Moreno-Garcia that excels in atmosphere quite so well. Every tone she goes for, she nails. I was even a little skeptical that she included the Salome timeline, because I was worried it would take me out of the narrative too much, but by the end I was fully sold on why she included it. A master class in dramatic irony. The whole thing soaked in dread. It's delicious. I wish a few of the characters got to speak for themselves at the end, it did end just a little too abruptly for me. But everything else was wonderful. I wish a studio would pick up rights to all of Moreno-Garcia's stories, it's absolutely astonishing to me she doesn't have an entire cinematic universe by now. I want to see this story on screen so badly!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy, it's always such a privilege to get to read Moreno-Garcia's work early!!

This book made me an even bigger Silvia Moreno-Garcia fan (and I'm already a BIG FAN!!!). Compelling action, relatable and complex characters, and one of the best uses of POV shifts I think I've ever read.

Vera is an unknown actress, discovered in Mexico City and cast as the lead in a long-awaited film adaptation of the Biblical story of 'Salome'. Nancy is a LA party girl, trying to make it big and escape the seediness of her friends, apartment, and boyfriends. One is cast as Salome, while the other is convinced that she is the true Salome. The two women mirror and distort each other as the book progresses, surrounded by their drastically different yet somehow concentric Hollywood circles. Salome herself gets a POV chapter as well as the movie filming progresses to its beautiful and violent finish.

The staging of Salome as a 1950s film worked so well for me: I loved the production as the backdrop for bitter jealousies but also beautiful moments, like Vera's complicated relationship with self=confidence and her body as a Mexican woman in Hollywood. Nancy was definitely a bitter character, and could have seemed a bit stereotypical, but her motivations and backstory gave her good depth. Highly recommend this book for lovers of historical dramas and just an entertaining, well conceived read!

What an intriguing way to tell the story of the woman who famously asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. (Matthew 14: 1-12; Mark 6: 14-29; Luke 9: 7-9 although Luke doesn’t mention the daughter of Herodias). Despite the fact that the New Testament doesn’t name her, the historian Josephus names a Salome as one of the daughters of Herodias. The one who danced so well that her uncle Herod promised up to half of his kingdom? We’ll probably never know.

Regardless, I had to allow myself a brief suspension of disbelief because John (Jokanaan in the book, Yahohanan in Hebrew) would have been in his early 30s not 20s and his father was a priest and not a merchant. Despite that, I thought the tale was fabulous and I love how she wove the stories together, the different perspectives. And I thought it was brilliant to set the main story in the Hollywood of the 50s when Biblical movies vied with racism, anti-communism, and the rapidly disappearing studio system.

Finally, I loved the Vera Larios. I loved watching her come out of her shell, so to speak. What an amazing woman.

4.5/5…It is hardly a shocker that I love this forthcoming book from Silvia. The two and a half co-leads (even Nancy) are such compelling characters. And the structure, balancing “real” Salome’s tale of her not great family and a surprising Jokanann/John the Baptist with that of ingenue Vera playing her in a Golden Age Hollywood blockbuster, is fantastic.

Between this and Evelyn Hugo and Siren Queen, I am becoming a fan of these meta and genre Old Hollywood takes.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to get into this ARC early, and maintain my status as a Silvia completist!

I really wanted to like this one, the prose is the reason for the three stars alone but the timelines never truly came together, and not one of the povs we follow was that sharp.

A gorgeous, rather noir novel of 1950s Hollywood and the studio system, mixed with the biblical tale of Salome. The story is told from three main perspectives. Vera, a young Mexican woman with limited theatre experience is “discovered “ and called to Hollywood to star in a big budget epic detailing Salome’s life, her infamous dance and her doomed love for John the Baptist. A newcomer to Hollywood, she is often met, not only with the misogyny that was standard for the time, but also racial prejudice. Enter Nancy, an actress that never quite got the break she felt she deserved and believed that the role should be hers. With Vera seemingly having everything, including the man Nancy desired, she vows to be Vera’s ruin. The third perspective is Salome herself, told through the script, a woman also grappling with her duty, the passions of her heart and the birthright she deserves. Woven together with “interviews” from others involved in the making of the film, this book was an absolute feast.

Highly recommended.

Another sumptuous and immersive historical saga from Silvia Moreno-Garcia, this time centering the rise and fall of an aspiring Mexican starlet in the golden age of Hayes Code Hollywood.

5/5 stars. To be released September 2024.

I will read anything that Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes! This did not disappoint and once again showcased the authors brilliance at bringing historical fiction to life. Two stories intertwine here: a biblical story of Salome and the story of a film production in the 1950 of the same story. The story is told through many perspectives. Some feel like interviews while others do not. There are no supernaturals elements like her last film novel, Silver Nitrate, but they definitely won’t be missed by the reader.

I am a huge fan of Silvia’s books. This book is no exception. She has a way with words. Her writing is so beautiful and different. She truly shows love and tragedy in her books and I love it. I will continue to read everything she puts out.

"Too clever. Not clever. Thinks too much, talks too much Hardly says a peep. Haughty but shy."

Silvia Moreno-Garcia weaves an extraordinary but cautionary tale of love, loss, desire, and racism through Vera, an unknown aspiring actress from Mexico, flown in and given the coveted role of the infamous Salome. What follows is equal parts inspiring and devastating.

This is the danger of being an intelligent woman of color with better ideas than your white male counterparts who isn't afraid to talk about them. The fear of being commoditized, sexualized, and fetishized. The familial and societal pressure to be the ideal woman and perfect wife and be thankful for it. The shame that comes with saying no and being given the label of 'ungrateful', instead of being surrounded by a loving support system. Women are expected to sit back and take abuse, accepting it with a smile, because it's never as bad as it could be. They were golden trophies up on a shelf to be seen and not heard, pawns in the games of men, objects of desire blamed for starting wars ignited by the spark of a man's short fuse. This book shows that even though hundreds of years have gone by, even though the methods of inflicting that pain may have evolved, women are still being shamed, oppressed, and hurt in the same ways that they used to be.

I may never recover from this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC.

2.5 stars for Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest novel.

Let’s start with the plot. Vera is a young actress from Mexico City that is plucked from her ordinary life and given a coveted role in Hollywood. Salome is the name of the woman she is playing, a young princess from the Herodian line that is caught in a tangled web of politics. The story switches between their points of view, along with Nancy Hartley, the main antagonist who is jealous of Vera.

There was a secondary antagonist, and references in side character POVs to a “Cold War” between the person and Vera, but he basically disappears after one bad article is written about her, so the side POV describing the animosity felt pointless.

While I liked the switches in POV, I felt like the tension never ratcheted up. Rather than showing it through actions, there would be an odd-POV thrown in where a side character remarked on “Nancy/Vera didn’t deserve what happened to them” to add suspense. We didn’t experience the suspense through the novel, we were TOLD something bad was going to happen. For me, that wasn’t enough to create a sense of dread.

I found the romance between Vera and Jay to be lacking, when it needed to be stronger. It’s become an all too common theme in this author’s books for the heroine to fall for a man who doesn’t love her for her, but for the idea of her. It results in a feeling like the woman is being punished for her innocent naïveté and her decision to open her heart.

Overall this was entertaining but not as engaging as I wanted it to be.

4.25/5

I was SO excited to receive this ARC and The Seventh Veil of Salome did not disappoint. Another reviewer said that Silvia Moreno-Garcia can write any genre and I completely agree.

I really loved the format of this book. It absolutely transported me to a 1950s Hollywood tabloid tell-all and also straight into Salome's story. I am entirely unfamiliar with the Bible so this definitely inspired further research and exploration. I also learned a lot about the Mexican experience in Hollywood at that time and it was clear that this book was extremely well-researched.

While the storyline was predictable and I didn't mind it, I did feel that the ending was rushed and I would have liked to have seen it drawn out a little more. There was such a crescendo in the story that the ending felt a little abrupt.

All-in-all, this was a captivating read and I cannot wait to see with the author does next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Del Rey for the e-ARC.

The Seventh Veil of Salome is a triumph, and proof that Silvia can write in any genre, any timeline, and craft a compelling story with characters that keep you interested beyond the last page. We meet Nancy, a bit part, good time gal looking for a break to the big time. Nancy will sleep with anyone she thinks can help her, manipulate and plot, and her racist, mean attitude makes her a top tier villain even if she is at the bottom of the Hollywood ladder. Vera couldn't be more different, a Mexican ingenue who has spent her life being belittled by her mother in favor of her prettier, fairer sister - but when Vera nabs the much coveted role of Salome in an upcoming bible drama, it sets off many things in motion. The legendary Salome, the one who asks for the head of John the Baptist as a reward for her dancing, is also a girl in search of power. She can go after the young preacher she is smitten with, seduce her uncle, or settle for a match with the up and coming Agrippa, and she also suffers from an overbearing mother. All these women journey toward an inevitable destiny, and in Silvia's capable hands, the journey is as important as the destination.