This story is partly set in 1950s Hollywood and inspired by the author’s deep research into the period. Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.
So when the film’s director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingénue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.
Two actresses, determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.
But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart. And honestly, I loved this part of the story the most.
It is told in multiple points of view, including those of various minor players in Vera’s life. These perspectives affect how we see and understand Vera and Nancy. Alongside our three main characters, Moreno-Garcia injects stories from other characters, some of which we meet through the story, these are told in different formats, some interview style, some like reading a diary and they all add to the intrigue of the story. From the first page we know it is building to some big event, and these little additions add to the tension and the build up to the ending.
The book also addresses the pervasiveness of racism, misogyny, sexual assault and double standards that were once so explicit. It’s a story of ambition, of romance, but it’s also one of three women simply trying to survive, to thrive in worlds that will never accept them as they are.
If you enjoy historical fiction, and don’t mind a slow burn plot, especially with characters this well written, I would highly recommend.

I will always run to pick up anything that Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes. Especially her historical fiction! Everything about this book spelled a recipe for a new favorite SMG title. In reality, it was just okay. I did like how the plot points in Salome's POV echoed what was happening with Vera and how everything came to a big climax. After the climax of the plot, the story ended super abruptly, IMO, with little resolution. And I did not like that so much.

Del Rey eARC
What I love about Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work is that I always get a different book each time I read her, and each time it pays off. This was such a fascinating look into old Hollywood and the life of Salome - whom I knew from the Biblical story but nothing else about her. She made these women so vivid and fascinating. I wanted to spend time with all of them - even Nancy because who doesn't love a fleshed out villain. I ended up doing this one on audio and I'm glad I did because of the full cast production. I had no idea where this story was going the entire time and trusted the author to bring it to a satisfying conclusion and she did. This was masterful storytelling and I'm curious to see where she takes us next.

As always with Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a deeply atmospheric story that slowly builds tension that deliciously pays off. This follows three women, two involved in Golden Age Hollywood, and the other the titular Salome at the start of the first millennium. Three very different women with very different lives, but all wrestling with remarkably similar challenges because of the demands placed on them by the people (mostly men) that surround them. I'd call it a slow burn if I tried to describe the plot, but I was sucked in from the first pages and couldn't put it down.

Whilst reading this book, I kept trying to place it in a genre and even after finishing it, I can’t place it in one. The Seventh Veil of Salome is about a 1950s film and paints a complex story of two actresses, Hollywood, and the biblical princess Salome.
Our first actress is the lead in the film. She is an unknown Mexican woman that is pushed into the spotlight after being cast in this role. Our second actress has been in Hollywood for years looking for her big break and has become a bit more unhinged following the casting of a part that "should have been hers!"
I have to admit, I did not know the story about Salome prior to reading this book, but her story is interwoven throughout the narrative and wow was this book well done. There was one particular moment (without spoiling) that became lost in the story and captivated by the intricate way it was told.
I felt all the emotions while reading this. Excitement for our up and coming actress, anger at the racism she experiences, and anxiety for the impending doom that I could sense in the build up of tension. I absolutely adore Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s work and am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to review this. Thank you NetGalley and Random House.

What a unique, different book for Silvia Moreno-Garcia ! I've read several of her other books (Mexican Gothic and Silver Nitrate), which were gothic horror. Is she veering away from that genre and focusing more on historical fiction? Or is she so multi-talented, she can go back and forth between the two? I imagine it's the latter. This is an impressive read that is a movie set within a story.
We start out with the historical story of Salome, a character in the bible who is known for performing a dance before King Herod, in exchange for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. She's manipulated by her mother, Herodias, into siding with her over her uncle or father, as her mother conspires with them both to arrange a marriage for Salome to increase their share of the kingdom. Unfortunately, Salome is in love with a peasant preacher currently jailed for speaking out against the throne and is being pursued by her cousin for marriage as well. There is a lot of politics going on here with various outcomes. In essence, it's the biblical version of Romeo and Juliet.

We then turn to 1950s Hollywood, where a movie version of 'The seventh veil of Salome' is being produced and stars a young Mexican ingenue, Vera Larios. Vera is beautiful and has never acted before. Her mother favors her sister and she's constantly doubting herself as she navigates her way through the politics and intrigue of the glamourous Hollywood lifestyle.

The 3rd woman in this story is Nancy, an actress who was also up for the part of Salome, but is incensed that she lost out to Vera, an unknown, and a Mexican to boot. There are a lot of racial references to the challenges hispanic and spanish actors faced in Hollywood and if you were from Mexico, you had to pretend you were from Spain just to buy property in CA.
All three stories intertwine a bit as each woman faces similar obstacles-racism, sexism, misogyny, and their drive to succeed. Sometimes the sections on Salome are hard to follow as there are many Roman and Greek characters, but once you get into the meat of the story, only a few really matter. You root for Vera, and are excited for her when she finds true love, fleeting as it may be. Everything comes to a head when the final scene of the movie is filmed and Nancy plots her revenge. You know that tragedy is on the way and when it finally comes it's bittersweet.

Moreno-Garcia makes you feel like you too, are part of the glamour and excess of old school Hollywood, when actors were managed by publicists who controlled all their social activity, and gossip magazines followed the actors from place to place. Not much has changed, but this is a great ode to classic Hollywood, historical fiction, and the great biblical epic movies of the past.

This was my first Silvia Moreno-Garcia novel, and I'm so glad I started with The Seventh Veil of Salome, because now I know what to expect as I work my way through her backlist: excellence.

The story was well-crafted and effective, pulling together Old Hollywood glamor and heartbreak with modern snark and reflection. I found the characters to be dynamic and alive, Vera, Jay, Nancy, and even Vera's family were all interesting people with their own wants, dreams, and plans, and while I never paid much attention to the story of Salome in the Bible, I adored the story Moreno-Garcia crafted for her here. I even bought the love story between Jay and Vera, which is, at times, difficult for me to stick with when love stories are secondary to larger, more multifaceted plots, which made it sting all the more when Jay couldn't overcome his past in time to secure a future with Vera.

Vera goes from being an unknown receptionist at her family business in Mexico to suddenly being cast as the lead in a huge Hollywood film, putting to task all the skills she'd learned throughout her life to aid and assist her more white-presenting, seemingly "better" younger sister who chose love over having the career Vera's mother wanted for her. This results in Vera's mother being overbearing and cruel. Her fast ascend from nobody to star leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of Nancy, who is a mediocre white woman desperately grasping whatever she can reach to keep herself from fading into nothingness. Her hatred and careless evilness make her a fascinating and fun villain, especially when we get to see her knocked down a few pegs, but I was overall unsatisfied with how her story ended, which is what kept this from being a full five-star read for me. But know that if Nancy had the ending I felt she deserved, this would have been a perfect read to me!

4.75 ⭐️s

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Del Rey, and NetGalley for providing an ARC!

I was so torn on the star rating of this book. It’s honestly more than 4 stars for me but didn’t quite meet that 5 star mark. 4.75/5???? I know that’s a weird number. For me the narration by so many different characters made it difficult to connect with or care for any of the main characters (Vera, Jay, Nancy, Salome).
I spent quite a bit of time writing down who all the extra people were and who they connected to just in case it popped back up and I needed to know their name later.
The story itself is told wonderfully by Silvia Morena-Garcia. She diverges from her usual genre and ventures into a more historical fiction in this book. Old Hollywood and the pressures on women and minorities is described wonderfully. I found myself drawn deeply into the story once I had the characters down and stayed up reading way past dawn.
Go into this knowing that you really only need to keep up with the main players. (Vera, Jay, Nancy, Benny, Salome, Herod, Herodias, Agrippa, Jokanaan). Most of the other viewpoints are just to tell you the thinking of the time or something about one of the main characters. I think you’ll enjoy the book much more that way!
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own .

Haunting! One of Garcia’s best works. The characterization is clear, and the perspective shifts keep the story moving at a good pace.

SMG is fantastic when it comes to historical fiction and making a story stay true to the time period while also feeling so modern at the same time! the multiple POVs really added to the story and lets you feel even more invested in the characters, i'm such a sucker for multiple POVs! this was definitely one of SMG's best so far and i can't wait to see which time period she gets to writing next.

*4.5 stars rounded up*

What if the person you love doesn’t fit in your life plan?

Vera Larios was plucked from her job as receptionist in her father’s dental practice in Mexico & transplanted to L.A., where 1950’s Hollywood is producing a much-anticipated new movie & she is cast in the starring role: Salome. Vera’s story is told in conjunction with Salome’s, & many people give outside perspectives on the events in a documentary style; the woman who desperately wanted the role of Salome, a struggling actress named Nancy, is also featured in this epic, & she is given a bit part in the movie. Readers can feel her frustration & desperation growing, with an intensity that builds right up until the end…

The way the author immerses us in the historical Hollywood setting (complete with racism, homophobia, & anti-communist fervor) while also progressing through Salome’s struggle is expertly crafted. The three women at the heart of this saga wrestled with their ambitions & their hearts, & this could be keenly felt - the writer didn’t shy away from making these women whole & imperfect beings. The emphasis on music was a beautiful addition, & I really liked that there was a playlist at the end of the book. This is the third book I’ve read from this author & I am looking forward to enjoying more in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley & Del Ray for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my favorite authors, and despite how diversely she writes, she never misses. Her latest novel, The Seventh Veil of Salome, is one of her few works that isn’t speculative fiction. Instead, this a historical fiction novel set in 1950s Hollywood, about two women vying for the same leading role in a film about Salome, as well as the story of Salome herself. There is so much tension building between Vera and Nancy in the 1950s, while Salome faces hard choices in terms of love and power.

Tropes & Narrative Devices:
- Mix of third-person and first-person POVs: Three main characters (Vera; Nancy; Salome) are in third-person; other minor characters give brief first-person accounts
- Unlikable character
- Dual timeline

What I Liked:
- There are three main characters here: Vera, the unknown Mexican woman cast as the lead in the film about Salome; Nancy, the bitter actress who still hasn’t had her big break; and Salome herself, grappling with hard decisions in the Roman Empire.
- Vera is a captivating character who is so talented and smart. Sadly, she faces unfair scrutiny from her mother, sexism and racism in her career, and a lack of support for what she really wants to do.
- Nancy is an unlikable character: bitter, entitled, selfish, violent. She’s fun to read, but not someone I’d want to know in real life!
- The love story between Vera and Jay. I like these two together, even if they have a complicated road ahead of them.
- Discussions of music. Vera and Jay love music, from opera to jazz. I enjoyed their deeper analyses of music and their passion for creating music of their own.
- The random first-person people: It feels like they’re being interviewed, decades after the fact, about what went down in 1950s Hollywood—like an oral history. It gives this novel a fresh perspective and a faster pace. Although the main story is all in the third person, and we never get to hear directly from our three protagonists, I enjoyed getting these outsiders’ glimpses into what they thought about everything.

What Didn’t Work for Me:
- The ending was too sudden and fast! It was well done, with rapidly shifting and brief scenes, but I wanted a bit more.

Final Thoughts
The Seventh Veil of Salome is a book that will appeal to fans of historical fiction and Old Hollywood. The main characters are women fighting for more and facing unfair scrutiny, restrictions, and prejudices. It’s an engrossing novel, especially with all the extra perspectives thrown in. The book ends rather suddenly, perhaps allowing the reader to imagine an ending as they will… much like how the secondary characters fill in their own blanks.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Man I loved this book. Silvia Moreno-Garcia will forever by one of my favorite authors. I devoured this book. Read it/listened to the audiobook all in one day. I think this is my second favorite book by her now after Mexican Gothic. I highly recommend the audiobook because it had a whole cast and it added so much to the reading experience.

Gorgeous, atmospheric, and told in the same sense as watching interviews, which I enjoyed. I loved getting multiple POVs and figuring out how people felt about an unknown actress getting the lead part as Salome and her own feelings about getting thrown into the shark infested waters of the movie business. Parts of the book also told Salome’s story as well, which was also intriguing and fascinating.

I can feel the author’s love for old film in a lot of her books and I just loved the drama of this one. I definitely recommend this!

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my must-read authors because her writing is incredible, though I tend to lean more toward her horror stories. The Seventh Veil of Salome is different, more historical fiction with a focus on cinema/film.

The story is set in 1950s Hollywood and revolves around three women: Vera, a Mexican actress cast as Salome; Nancy, a jealous extra who feels she deserved the lead; and Salome herself, drawn from the Biblical account. Their stories intertwined and you cannot helped but feel for Vera immediately. The book is full of the atmospheric detail I love in Silvia’s work (LOVE), though I was initially confused by the shifts in perspective. Still, once I got into it, everything made sense, and the story really drew me in. While I prefer her horror tales, there’s no denying Silvia Moreno-Garcia is amazing.

This multi-timeline historical novel tells the story of three women struggling for success. Salome, of biblical fame, is trying to survive the manipulative men around her. Her uncle murdered her father and married her mother to become tetrarch, her cousin believes that if Salome allied with him they'd be unstoppable, and she believes herself in love with a prophet doomed by her mother and uncle.

And more than a thousand years later, another Salome, fledgling movie star Vera Larios, is struggling to make a career for herself in the glamorous days of old Hollywood. But racism, sexism, and other people's jealousy makes it very difficult.

The lyrical prose and multiple points of view kept this book very engaging. It was easy to become invested in these strong, yet simultaneously tragic, women.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from the writing to the format to the setting and the characters. Highly recommend for any reader!

Perfect pick if you love old Hollywood or want to read a book similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Leave it to SMG to write a devastatingly tragic and beautiful story that will rip out your guts in the end.

The Seventh Veil of Salome follows the story of three women:
1. Vera Larios: a receptionist working at her father's dentistry in Mexico and who becomes the lead actress in a big-budget movie about Salome.
2. Nancy Hartley: an actress and extra on the set who's been eyeing the role of Salome, and becomes increasingly unhinged and jealous of Vera for her role.
3. Salome: a princess doomed to make a difficult choice between her heart and her ambition.

SMG weaves such an intricate and poignant story with the lives of these women. She flushes so much from these characters, from things like Vera's battle with the racist film industry, Nancy's desperation to see herself on the big screen, and the political intrigue in Salome's court. So much seems to go on but SMG really connects these storylines so well that it feels like you're just watching the movie play out.

I was completely immersed in the worlds that SMG created and the way in which she decided to tell their stories. It shifts from the POVs of Vera, Nancy and Salome, while also including an interview style monologue from people who interact with Nancy and Vera during their time in Hollywood. Also the last 90% of this book almost killed me because I was so stressed reading it alksjflkjds.

The story is glamourous, romantic, and so insanely tragic. I highly highly highlyyyyy recommend picking this up if you have the chance!

The Seventh Veil of Salome
Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Publisher: Del Ray/Random House
Pages: 336
Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Scoville Spice Scale: 🌶

This Good Morning America Book Club Pick is captivating, well researched, and creative. Silvia blends 1950s Hollywood Glamour juxtaposed with a story of Salome, the girl alluded to in the Bible in relation to John the Baptist. The Hollywood portion details a newcomer to the acting scene who trip rope walks her way through a cast that includes a leech and a jealous, jilted background actress.

This book kept me on my toes as it does has multiple Points of View. Vera, a 21 year old ingenue, is whisked away from her job as a receptionist in her father's dental practice in Mexico to Hollywood to play the lead in the film of The Seventh Veil of Salome. Meanwhile, Nancy coveted the role. Along the way Jay comes into the story and is involved with both women. I was fascinated by the bitter rivalry between Nancy and Vera (unbeknownst, for the most part, to Vera). Nancy's desperation drives her to madness and exposes the racism prevalent towards Hispanic people. Meanwhile, Salome, a 21 year old girl living her Uncle/Stepfather's home while Jokanaan preaches about his coming Lord and the sins of Salome's mother and Uncle/Stepfather.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia wove this tapestry of a story together in such a unique way that compeled you to keep tiring the pages. Vera and Salome's passion, love, and drive captivated me especially interactions with men who wanted something from them and navigating tricky situations.

Make sure you read Silvia's note after the conclusion.

Thank you to @NetGalley and #delray books for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

What an awesome book! Silvia Moreno-Garcia weaves the story of Salome with the world of 1950s Hollywood and creates a wonderful look at film, music, culture, bigotry, love, violence, despair, and sacrifice.

Vera has been cast as Salome, a part Nancy covets, and meets Jay. Vera struggles with the studio system and the prejudice of white Hollywood. Meanwhile, the story of Salome plays out- but is it the story from antiquity or the movie being filmed...or both?

The book is written from multiple points of view and this stylization creates an interesting tapestry that illuminates the magic of movies and the power of story. And the power of music. There's a playlist curated by the author on Spotify and I can't wait to dig into it.

There is so much to love in the book. I found myself racing for the end and yet also not wanting it to finish.