I love the way Susan Meissner weaves together the stories of three ladies who all have different backgrounds yet come together for one purpose.

I'm a big Meissner fan but have to admit this wasn't my favorite of her books. It's a story about three women, each caught in her own tangled web of misfortune in the Hollywood of the late 50s: Melanie, an actress whose newly blooming career gets cut short when she is put on the communist black list for no more than an association with someone suspected of communist sympathies; Eva a Polish immigrant whose past is absolutely not what describes; and June, the sister-in-law of an ever more reclusive screen writer who retreats further and further into a private grief. I liked the end but I'm afraid I didn't really warm to any of the characters and I found the prose to be repetitive, taking a little too long for the women to learn the lessons that they are clearly meant to learn. I usually learn a lot from Meissner's historical settings but this one not so much. I think this book will appeal to others who are more interested in drama than historical settings or internal insights.

I won't post my review as it is not very positive.

I love this author. Probably not my favorite book by her, but I still enjoyed it. I always like reading about Hollywood stories from the mid 1900s, and this one brough a history lesson as well. I wish we'd known Elwood before his disappearance. It felt like that would have made things a little more meaningful. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This is an interesting book about the effects of the Cold War in Hollywood. So many stars were blacklisted at this time. I love the way the author brought three strong women together as they searched for their dreams. Each of them were fully developed characters and intriguing as they tried to move forward with their lives. I was fully invested with each of them as the story progressed. Susan Meissner is a go to author for me and this unique storyline delivers!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
#AMapToParadise #SusanMeissner #NetGalley

This was a great read. From my perspective, the ending was a happy one overall, which I found really refreshing and nice.

“ Because there is no map to paradise. There is only the dream that such a place exists, as does the desire to possess it, and the determination to find it again when it’s been lost.”

Melanie is an actress that is being blacklisted from Hollywood because she was seeing someone that had possible Communist leanings. Eva is her Polish housekeeper that has secrets of her own. June is the reclusive next door neighbor’s sister in law. One early morning, Melanie sees June digging up her neighbor’s roses. From there these three women will form an alliance and start a friendship out of an unlikely start.

I loved each woman and their individual stories. I liked how they were able to rise after what eah had endured. Great writing and a wonderful story.