Catalog

Record Details

Catalog Search


Typewriter beach : a novel Cover Image Book Book

Typewriter beach : a novel / Meg Waite Clayton.

Clayton, Meg Waite, (author.).

Summary:

"Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and in 1950s Hollywood-in the days of the studio system and McCarthy-era scaremongering about an America "riddled with communists and homosexuals"-Typewriter Beach is the unforgettable story of an unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star. 1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard 7-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio's "fixer" in a charming little Carmel-by-the-Sea cottage for a secret rendezvous. There, she is awoken by the clack and ding of a typewriter at the cottage next door. Léon Chazan is annoyed as hell when Iz interrupts his work on yet another screenplay he won't be able to sell, because he's been blacklisted. But soon he's speeding down the fog-shrouded Carmel-San Simeon highway, headed for the isolated cliffs of Big Sur, with her in the passenger seat. 2018. Twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan, in Carmel to sell her grandfather's cottage, finds a hidden safe with a World War II-era French passport, an old camera with film still in it, two movie scripts, and a writing Oscar that is not in her grandfather's name-raising questions about who the screenwriter known simply as Chazan really was. In its exploration of Hollywood and Carmel-by-the-Sea, Typewriter Beach is a heartwarming tale of long-buried secrets; sisterhood and sexism; the importance of free speech, story, and name; and what it means to be family"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780063422148 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: 305 pages ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2025]

Search for related items by subject

Subject: Actresses > Fiction.
Blacklisting of authors > Fiction.
Man-woman relationships > Fiction.
Screenwriters > Fiction.
Secrecy > Fiction.
Carmel (Calif.) > Fiction.
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) > Fiction.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Novels.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Lakeshore Branch FIC Clayt 31681010426203 FICTION Available -
► Summaries & More
► Awards, Reviews, & Suggested Reads
▼ Additional Content
  • Baker & Taylor
    Aspiring star Isabella Giori and blacklisted writer Léon Chazan forge a bond on California’s foggy coast in 1957, while in 2018, Léon’s granddaughter Gemma uncovers long-buried secrets about identity, authorship, and hidden history in the ruins of Hollywood’s golden age.
  • HARPERCOLL

    Instant USA Today Bestseller · Washington Post 5 Works of Historical Fiction to Read This Summer · Top 10 Library Read · Los Angeles Times 10 Reads for a Beach Day · Publishers Weekly Summer Read · Woman’s World Book Club Pick · Zibby Books That’ll Make You Swoon · AARP Summer Read

    Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Hollywood, Typewriter Beach is an unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star. 

    1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard seven-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio’s “fixer” in a tiny Carmel cottage, waiting and dreading. 

    Meanwhile, next door, Léon Chazan is annoyed as hell when Iz interrupts his work on yet another screenplay he won’t be able to sell, because he’s been blacklisted. Soon, they’re together in his roadster, speeding down the fog-shrouded Big Sur coast. 

    2018. Twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan, in Carmel to sell her grandfather’s cottage, finds a hidden safe full of secrets—raising questions about who the screenwriter known simply as Chazan really was, and whether she can live up to his name. 

    In graceful prose and with an intimate understanding of human nature, Meg Waite Clayton captures the joys and frustrations of being a writer, being a woman, being a star, and being in love. Typewriter Beach is the story of two women separated by generations—a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.

► Shelf Browser
► MARC Record

Additional Resources