Maysie Grieg was an Australian writer who was married to Delano Ames, an American mystery writer. I have read several of his pulp detective novels, and thought I would try her writing out as well. Her books were mainly relationship stories, bordering on romance. Indeed, with a title like Romance For Sale, you know what you are getting right up front!
I found an unusual hardcover of Romance For Sale - a first edition from Doubleday - an ex-library copy stamped on the inside cover from McIntoch Circulating Library. This book must be returned as per regulation subscribed to by you. Followed by several cancelled stamps. More of interest to me however, was the single column of date due stamps running the height of the flyleaf, twenty-one various dates for different borrowers ranging from SEP 14 1934 to 18 OCT 1937. I wonder who those people were, did they read it, and did they enjoy it?
Odette Cosway is at the height of the motion pictures business, the top actress at All Star Studios in London. Her partnership and real-life engagement to Lance Furner has made them a famous couple. They are at a party to celebrate new long term contracts for the couple, when Lance has to reveal a secret. The contract calls for them to remain a couple, or marry - but Lance has just married someone else! A famous movie star, he gave in to an amorous fan just once and so, was obliged to marry her. They keep the secret and sign the contract. Odette is heartbroken and absentmindedly hits a man with her car on the street. She takes him home and befriends him. Bruce is down and out and agrees to work as her assistant. Next stop, filming Oasis on location in Morocco. Lance convinces Odette that he must bring his wife along to Morocco, and so, she agrees to take her on - as her secretary!
There are all kinds of shenanigans while filming, including Lance, Odette and her director getting lost in the desert overnight, and then Lance's bitter and vindictive wife Irene dying on location. Her last words expose their secret and the publicity destroys the couple and the film.
While this first part of the story is breezy romance, the second half centers on Odette and how she manages to travel to America and reinvent herself with a new name, look, and quality. Odette shows herself to be courageous and headstrong, creating a new life for herself without aid of anyone else. When you consider this was written in the 30's, Odette shows she is a solid character. The backdrop is the superficial world of movies, but I found her to be better written than in many modern novels.
There is even a complication as her past rears it's ugly head, twisting the last pages into a murder subplot!
While written in 1934, the heroine is admirable and plucky enough to create her own destiny; I thought she was a very modern character. The backdrop of the film business in London, Morocco, and in Hollywood was fun and filled with solid characters. It had the same feel as many film comedies of the time, probably closest to Sullivan's Travels. If it was filmed in the forties, Jean Arthur would be perfect for the role of Odette, with Don Ameche as male lead. If it was filmed when it came out in the 30's, how great would Joan Blondell be, with the chance for Dick Powell to play a heavy role as Lance, and even Ruby Keeler as Irene. That was just a note for you movie fans...
It was a treat to read Maysie Grieg and Romance For Sale was just what I hoped it would be.
My other Maysie Greig reviews:
1934 / Hardcover / 310 pages
コメント