Review: The Great Pretenders by Laura Kalpakian

The Great Pretenders

by Laura Kalpakian

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 400

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  The daughter of Hollywood royalty, Roxanne Granville is used to getting what she wants--even if she has to break the rules. But after a falling-out with her grandfather, a powerful movie mogul, she has to face life on her own for the first time....

Roxanne forges a career unique for women in the 1950s, becoming an agent for hungry young screenwriters. She struggles to be taken seriously by the men who rule Hollywood and who often assume that sexual favors are just a part of doing business. When she sells a script by a blacklisted writer under the name of a willing front man, more exiled writers seek her help. Roxanne wades into a world murky with duplicity and deception, and she can't afford any more risks.

Then she meets Terrence Dexter, a compelling African American journalist unlike anyone she's ever known. Roxanne again breaks the rules, and is quickly swept up in a passionate relationship with very real dangers that could destroy everything she's carefully built.

Roxanne Granville is a woman who bravely defies convention. She won't let men make all the rules, and won't let skin color determine whom she can love. 


Kritters Thoughts:  Roxanne Granville is the granddaughter of Hollywood legends and after the recent passing of her grandmother she is trying to decide what is next for herself and that includes a job, but what should she do with a name like Granville.  Roxanne becomes an agent for writers in hopes of finding the next Casablanca!  

I liked this book, but didn't love it.  This may sound weird, but it felt like a constant name drop.  The author just kept throwing names and things at the reader and I didn't feel like I got to know any of those famous people or even the infamous ones.  I liked that Roxanne was entering a field that was dominated by men and even though she threw her famous grandparents names around, she got to do good work and pave the path for future women.  Roxanne was a great character to follow in this story, but she was the only one with true depth.

There have been a lot of behind the scenes of old Hollywood stories that I have read that I loved and this one just fell a little short compared to the others.  I wouldn't count this author out, I would read another one by her, but I hope that she would spend more time on the supporting characters no matter if they are real or fiction.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley PRH.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.