Dual timeline historical fiction set in the late 1950s and 2018. Pacing was slow at times and I got really into the novel about halfway through the novel. The big reveal of secrets was predictable. The book touches upon how women and the marginalization they face in both timelines with issues such as a women's occupation, role in society, and their reputation, or potential reputation if an action ends up ruining their career. I do enjoy the friendships between Isabella and Léon, and Isabella and his granddaughter, Gemma. This illustrates how some friends are meant to be in your lives and how friendship has no age limits.

Thank you Harper for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Typewriter Beach comes out July 1, 2025.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the dual timeline and storyline. I was captivated by the writing and you can tell the author did a lot of research. If you’re a fan of old Hollywood, you’ll love this book. It’s full of history, drama and mystery.

Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite Clayton has time-stamped parallel plots taking place in 1957 and 2018. Importantly, it looks at the differences and similarities of the Hollywood Blacklist (aka. Communist witch hunt) and the “Me Too” movement (aka. Harvey Weinstein was as bad as rumors insisted, he was). In addition to these resonant themes, Typewriter Beach evokes the beauty, mystery and exclusivity of Carmel-by-the-Sea along with mid-century mores about homosexuality, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and the rigid Hollywood star system.

Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of similarities between the two time periods that are exemplified by the two female protagonists. Both are ambitious and courageous as they keep creating even as the world tries to silence them.

All the characters are well developed, and the narrative is richly detailed and well-researched. This is a gorgeous book with something for everyone.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for this review.

Typewriter Beach is the newest book in the Meg Waite Clayton collection. What a wonderful historical novel. This is another time stamped novel with paralllel plots taking the reader back and forth between 1957 and 2018. In '57 Isabella Giori arrives in Carmel in the dead of night to quietly wait out a mistake she made while filming her first movie picture. As she waits in the cottage owned by the studio so they will keep her under contract and loan her out to Alfred Hitchcock she meets Leon Chazen who is a writer. He has been blacklisted accused by others in the McCarthy Senator and his communist surveillance of the movie industry.

2018 Gemma Chazen comes back to Carmel to spread her grandfather's ashes and empty his cottage. She meets Sam who is living across the way. He is working on creating computer games and was friendly with Leon. Also living in the cottage next door is Isabella an aging movie star. As their lives all start to interconnect we learn the back story that brings us to the three characters in Carmel now.

Secrets are revealed, friendships are made, love develops and is recognized. A beautifully told story that captures the views and beliefs of the time period. The seriousness of the red scare and the unfair way women were treated in Hollywood. The characters are especially well developed.

5⭐️ | For the dreamers, the writers, and the ones who chase legacy ✨📽️

Typewriter Beach is the kind of story that lingers long after you finish the last page—equal parts old-Hollywood glamor, foggy coastal charm, and bittersweet reflection on creativity and identity. Set between 1957 and 2018, it beautifully weaves together the lives of two women connected by words, ambition, and the quiet courage to keep creating, even when the world tries to silence them.

The Carmel-by-the-Sea setting is atmospheric perfection (I could feel the sea air), and the contrast between Isabella’s hidden life in the ’50s and Gemma’s modern quest made the story feel rich and emotionally resonant. Léon—blacklisted but brilliant—was the kind of character who sneaks up on you with depth and heart. And that twist with the hidden safe? 👏

If you love stories about writers, about the sacrifices made for art, about the weight of legacy and the persistence of women across generations… this one’s for you.

Several women in different time frames are the focus of this book. Physically set in Carmel, CA, the book includes blacklisting of Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, love, loss, deception, friendship, betrayal, loyalty... The story covers several time periods, with much for the reader to follow and digest. An enjoyable read.

Historical fiction fans will love this book, which features a dual timeline novel set during the Red Scare Fifties and in 2018, when a young screenwriter finds a safe full of secrets as she plans to sell her dead grandfather's Carmel, CA cottage. The story is full of surprises, and the characters are richly developed. If you enjoy dual timelines, strong female characters, and a little romance, I highly recommend this title! Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advance e-reader copy of this book.

Gosh I loved this. Smart, fascinating, well-researched, and relevant tale of an unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress who hopes to be the next Grace Kelly but then life (and her studio) throw her a real curveball. This is set primarily in 1957 Hollywood and Carmel-by-the-Sea, but portions take place in 2017 and 2024.

Histfic fans will absolutely love this book, a dual timeline novel set during the Red Scare Fifties and in 2018, when a young screenwriter finds a safe full of secrets as she works to sell her grandfather's Carmel cottage. Atmospheric, gripping, poignant, and highly recommended!

I really warmed up to this book — it started off a little slowly and then just became more and more intriguing with every chapter ending with a lovely last line to cap it all off.

Dual timelines — an isolated set of cottages on the beach at Carmel in 1957. Smack in the center of the darkest times of McCarthy’s blacklists and the slow strangulation of Hollywood, a young starlet on the verge of being the next Grace Kelly, is sent to wait in one of these cottages by the studio manager and all around fixer. Told to stay indoors and not be seen, she nevertheless meets her neighbor, the enigmatic Leo — a black listed scriptwriter with a haunted past. In 2018 we follow Gemma, whose beloved grandfather has just died and left her his cottage.

The story slowly unfolds, past to present, and while I often thought I knew what was happening, I was often quite wrong. The writing style is rich with thought provoking commentary and reflections. Hollywood — the deals, the norms, the restrictions, the cheats — is on display with all of the detail that I love — not just a description of events, but a description of the people living through those events and how they are changed, what they do to survive, what decisions they make (and sometimes regret, and often don’t). It’s the full experience and incredibly well-researched. I learned a lot about the different ways people dealt with the blacklist and (of course) the very different ways men and women had to deal with opportunities, threats, and restrictions.

Along with this spectacular depiction of the times and contexts is a lovely and often surprising story of love, family, parenthood, and friendship. I don’t want to give anything away, but there are multiple lovely stories of people finding love and family in a world not inclined to make it easy for them. Plenty of stories of people living in an environment not of their choosing and not in their control — and yet … finding their happiness.

Lots of intriguing details on Carmel and Hollywood — late credits for blacklisted screenwriters, a form of “me too” throughout the ages, morals clauses (for women only). I enjoyed every minute of it.

This is an exquisite novel. When Gemma returns to grandfather’s house to dispose of his ashes and possessions, she walks into the the history of the incredible life he lead and secrets that reveal the agonizing periods he survived. She also meets people very close to her grandfather, young tech mogul Sam and the older actress, Isabella Ginori. And thereby hangs a tale!

As a reader I was enthralled as Gran’s life story unfolded. He was known as Chazan, and the story of his taking his name was revealed. The novel also unfurls the story of the struggling young actress, Isabella. The echoes of their friendship resonate through the lives of Gemma and their neighbor Sam. The exploration and consequence of that relationship linger into the current relationships between the characters.

In essence, this marvel of a novel ties together living through the Holocaust, HUAC blacklist and the ME TOO movement. Even with all of these forces, the author manages to braid them together seamlessly.

I highly recommend this book. It is a wonderful novel as well as a social history of the period. I believe that this novel will provide a basis for rich discussion in book groups and modern history seminars. Meg Waite Clayton has written a novel which should appear on the BEST of 2025 lists.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read, review and enjoy this novel.