Review: City of Flickering Light by Juliette Fay

City of Flickering Light

by Juliette Fay

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  It’s July 1921, “flickers” are all the rage, and Irene Van Beck has just declared her own independence by jumping off a moving train to escape her fate in a traveling burlesque show. When her friends, fellow dancer Millie Martin and comedian Henry Weiss, leap after her, the trio finds their way to the bright lights of Hollywood with hopes of making it big in the burgeoning silent film industry.

At first glance, Hollywood in the 1920s is like no other place on earth—iridescent, scandalous, and utterly exhilarating—and the three friends yearn for a life they could only have dreamed of before. But despite the glamour and seduction of Tinseltown, success doesn’t come easy, and nothing can prepare Irene, Millie, and Henry for the poverty, temptation, and heartbreak that lie ahead. With their ambitions challenged by both the men above them and the prejudice surrounding them, their friendship is the only constant through desperate times, as each struggles to find their true calling in an uncertain world. What begins as a quest for fame and fortune soon becomes a collective search for love, acceptance, and fulfillment as they navigate the backlots and stage sets where the illusions of the silver screen are brought to life.

Kritters Thoughts:  Told through the viewpoint of three very different people who make a decision to completely alter their lives, but jumping off a train and heading to Hollywood to fulfill dreams.  Henry, Irene and Millie were in a traveling burlesque show and they leave quickly to try to make it on their own in the land of dreams.  It is the 1920s in Hollywood and this time period makes things harder for almost everyone in one way or another; this book is a look into many different cultures and how being an other, as most were, made things harder.

The thing I loved most about this book was that not all three of them ended up acting.  Through all three of them, the reader gets an inside look of other behind the scenes jobs in Hollywood, it made the book feel unique.  To spoil just a bit, I liked seeing Henry enter the costuming department and Irene end up in the script department.  

The interesting insight into an early #MeToo movement gave the book more depth and really made me think about the women and how they were treated when in regards to violence against women.  In many books you see women oppressed just in general in relationships or on the job, but to see the early indications of these men taking advantage of women in this industry made this book a more interesting read.  

I have read two out of the five books that Juliette Fay has published at the moment and after reading this one, I want to move the other three up my TBR list fast!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 16 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  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.