Happy Little Bluebirds - Hardcover

Levene, Louise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1408878771 ISBN 13: 9781408878774

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ), 2018

Synopsis

For fans of Muriel Spark, a dazzling novel about a young woman thrust into in the opulent world of 1940s Hollywood, where dirty dealings, undercover agents and off-camera romances aboundIt is September 1940 and Evelyn Murdoch, a translator from the Postal Censorship department, is uprooted from her home in wartime Woking and transferred to Hollywood. She is to assist a mysterious British agent in his attempts to outwit the Los Angeles German delegation and boost the British propaganda war effort.The unhappy young widow is supplied with a new Californian wardrobe, a Bel Air bungalow and her own desk in the writers' block of Miracle Studios.At first bewildered by the glamorous excesses of this strange new world, she is gradually seduced by the sunlight, orange groves and clever, fast-talking men. But, just as she begins to blossom, her new technicolor ending threatens to slip from her grasp.

About this title

About the Author:

Louise Levene is the author of A Vision of Loveliness, a BBC Book at Bedtime, which was also longlisted for the Desmond Elliott first novel prize, Ghastly Business and The Following Girls. She is the dance critic of the Financial Times and writes for the Spectator. She has also been an advertising copywriter, a window dresser, a radio presenter, an office cleaner, a crossword editor, a university tutor, a college professor and a saleslady. Louise Levene lives in London with her husband and their two children.

Review:

For the perfect piece of Bank Holiday escapism, look no further ... A whip-smart comedy, chock-full with glamour, secret agents and sun-drenched Californian orange groves - seriously, what could be more heavenly? * Saga * She writes with such energy and panache * Barbara Trapido * Levene is a zesty storyteller and a master of the needle-sharp one-liner * Sunday Telegraph * Levene has a pitch-perfect ear for dialogue * Observer * Levene's sharply observed comedy mixes affectionate satire of the stylistic oddities of the time with an invigorating sparkle of real dislike for authority -- Jane Shilling * Evening Standard * A seamless knack for drawing characters that fully inhabit their historical setting * The Lady * Levene is a gifted writer with a cinematic way with words * Sunday Express *

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ)
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1408878771
• ISBN 13: 9781408878774
• Binding: Hardcover