Melanie - a young and recently successful actress is blacklisted because she was seen in the company of “suspected” communists. She is staying at a rented home in Malibu to be free of prying eyes in Hollywood.
Eva - a young Polish immigrant is hired as Melanie’s housekeeper and cook. She has many secrets that she hopes to leave behind in her new life in the US.
June - is Melanie’s neighbor in Malibu. She is caring for her brother-in-law, Elwood, an accomplished screenwriter.
This is my first historical fiction novel about the "Red Scare" and I was utterly transfixed! Meissner has a way of transporting the reader to the time and place of her novels and creating such authentic, three-dimensional characters. The story grabbed hold and didn't let me go until the very last page. Ultimately, A MAP TO PARADISE is an engaging and moving story of friendship, camaraderie, and resilient women.
1956, Malibu, California: Something is not right on Paradise Circle.
With her name on the Hollywood blacklist and her life on hold, starlet Melanie Cole has little choice in company. There is her next-door neighbor, Elwood, but the screenwriter’s agoraphobia allows for just short chats through open windows. He’s her sole confidante, though, as she and her housekeeper, Eva, an immigrant from war-torn Europe, rarely make conversation.
Then one early morning Melanie and Eva spot Elwood’s sister-in-law and caretaker, June, digging in his beloved rose garden. After that they don’t see Elwood at all anymore. Where could a man who never leaves the house possibly have gone?
As they try to find out if something has happened to him, unexpected secrets are revealed among all three women, leading to an alliance that seems the only way for any of them to hold on to what they can still call their own. But it’s a fragile pact and one little spark could send it all up in smoke…
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