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Three different women fight for survival in a world dominated by the men around them, and they will ultimately end up forging their own destinies in fame or infamy. The Seventh Veil of Salome by SMG sucks you into the Golden Age of Hollywood where actors are living in a dreamy illusion of grandeur and luxury, but we soon learn that even the most gilded of dreams can tarnish, becoming indistinguishable from devastating tragedy.

Vera Larios is a debut actress. She is plucked from obscurity---she’s supposed to be a nobody, arisen from nothing. However, she’s everything the explosive director, Max Niemann, has ever coveted for the only remaining role yet to be cast in his newest and much anticipated film, The Seventh Veil of Salome. To begin with, Vera is this obedient, polite, and decorous individual, but along the way she finds her voice, which quickly reveals a more confident, assertive, and autonomous version of herself. She’s also able to uproot a deeply embedded conviction, planted and carefully cultivated by her mother, that she will never be enough compared to her more fair, more beautiful, more talented sister. These character transformations eventually help her move beyond a bad case of imposter syndrome, one that develops from self-deprecating guilt she harbors due to the alienating belief she is living her sister’s life.

Nancy Hartley is no new player on the board in Hollywood but is so desperate to make it as a big actress, she is consumed by her own jealousy and avarice. Vera Larios becomes the expected target of her ire, and Nancy is an adversary you love to hate. Racist, impulsive, and living on the scraps she’s been thrown from the tables of Hollywood legends for far too long, she’s a woman possessed with a single-minded purpose to accomplish her life’s dream of stardom, ostensibly at any cost. The harder she tries to regain some measure of control in her quickly spiraling career, the greater amount of damage she inflicts upon her situation. With the devasting losses mounting and failure looming, she ends up condemning Vera, which only succeeds in whipping her anguish and rage into a murderous passion.

Princess Salome is a woman plucked from the very pages of the bible. Her character is strong, clever, resilient, and resourceful---all things she must be to survive in biblical antiquity. She is caught in a web of her own desire, and as always, women can never have it all, so she must sacrifice everything to fulfill only one of them. Will it be love, vengeance, or power Salome decides she must have beyond all else? Dependent upon what she chooses, her fate will be paired with Jakanaan to indulge the love she has for this heretical preacher, her usurping Uncle Herod to exact her burning vengeance in the name of her murdered father, or her cousin Marcus Agrippa and the power he represents to seize her rightful crown and title.

Interestingly, aspects of Salome’s character will have significant influence over how both Vera and Nancy evolve and the resulting fateful decisions they make in their own lives. What disturbs me is the story of Salome, set during biblical times, is still so applicable to what these women are going through during 1950’s Hollywood. These women are cherry picked by men, stripped of their identities, assigned new names, new personas, and new backstories to make them more marketable towards the white male gaze. They are told who to be with and where, what to think or not to think at all, how to dress, how to eat, and what to say. Shockingly, they are all alive during a time where everything is chosen for women by men, even their very thoughts are carefully manufactured to be congruent with the politics or beliefs of the patriarchy. Horrifically, all three of these women must smile through everything while silently raging for their stolen freedoms. They are simply fighting for basic rights: to be heard and to be seen, for identity and agency to oversee their own lives.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is so unbelievably versatile! She has a toe dipped in multiple different genres, and each time she is able to flawlessly and effortlessly deliver bestselling titles. She is one of my favorite authors, and I love how she’s able to immerse you in her story telling. When I saw that this book was in the works, I was beside myself with excitement---I mean come on, set in old Hollywood with promised drama on and off the screen, sign me up immediately!! If you would enjoy a sizzling period piece set in 1950’s Hollywood laced with lots of glitz and drama, then this would be for you! Tragic and beautiful, this one is an easy pick for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Normally I am not usually a fan of numerous shifting points of view, but how it’s done is not confusing, gives context seasoned with a dash of foreshadowing, and helps drive the story forward. I also really enjoyed getting to know these women and following them through their stories. I really, reallyyy love to hate Nancy, and I get the impression that she’s written to be that dislikable, but I also think I could understand her. That soul consuming desperation can fuel the rashest of decisions and feed the deepest, darkest parts of human nature like nothing else. Salome��.oh my goodness! Big fan over here. She finally has enough of obedience and oppression and takes what she needs to cleverly gain the upper hand against her uncle and secure her own future. She is celebrated by her own mother for her brazen choice in her story, but no one realizes that a campaign of bloody retribution has likely just begun��

Thank you so so much NetGalley and Random House/Del Rey for the ARC and the opportunity to share what I think! All opinions are my own. Publication is August 2024!