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When three ambitious newcomers answer Hollywood’s siren call, they find an unlikely home at the Garden of Allah Hotel. It is there that they—a troubled screenwriter, an ace girl reporter, and an aspiring actress—forge the bonds of friendship that keep them hopeful, keep them reaching, and keep them loved in a town that wants to eat them alive.
Martin Turnbull’s Garden of Allah series transports you to the moment before talking pictures slugged Tinsel Town in the jaw. In 1927, luminous silent-screen star Alla Nazimova converted her Sunset Blvd estate into the Garden of Allah Hotel. Soon after she opened those lush grounds and receded into its shadows, some of Hollywood’s most talented hopefuls checked into her bungalows and began to meet, drink, and revel through the long Los Angeles nights.
George Cukor swims laps in the Black-Sea-shaped pool, Tallulah Bankhead knocks back martinis by the bucketload in the Sahara Bar, and Scott Fitzgerald slips behind the bougainvillea with his lover, Sheilah Graham.
When Marcus Adler, Kathryn Massey, and Gwendolyn Brick move in and make friends, we’re whisked along with them to leap and lurch, live and love through Hollywood’s golden years.
If you like Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City books, you’ll love getting lost in the Garden of Allah.
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→ Learn more about ALLA NAZIMOVA
→ Learn more about the GARDEN OF ALLAH HOTEL
→ Follow Martin on FACEBOOK (“gardenofallahnovels”)
→ Follow Martin on TWITTER (“TurnbullMartin”)
→ Check out Martin’s The Garden of Allah Novels blog
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Copyright © 2011+2012, Martin Turnbull. All rights reserved.
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How do I get your books? Do you speak at groups? I would love to have you speak at one of my small groups and sell your books. Do you charge to speak?
My books are available through Amazon and Barnes&Noble and Apple. Please email me through my website.
Hi Martin, i was so excited about your message yesterday, but today i’m even more excited. I was doing some more intense searching in the area of South Hope Street , and came across an ariticle re: a hotel that used to be at the spot i was asking you about. The actual name of the hotel that i lived in was “The Willard”, operated by “Church of the Open Door”. Now things are getting really good!!! Just wanted to thank you again for your efforts, and look forward to reading more from you on the web.
Have you ever given any consideration to writing a screenplay about Sheriff Gene Biscaluz, or Peter J. Pitchess? Pete would be a scandal in itself.
No, I haven’t…but then again, I’ve never considered writing a screenplay – novels seem to be more my speed but it’s a great suggestion!
Hello, Martin,
I just ordered your first two books yesterday in Kindle form from Amazon. When is your third novel coming out? These look so interesting, and I’m sure I will love them.
Thanks Jeri! I hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think. Currently, book 3 “Citizen Hollywood” is on track to be released late 2013.
I’m enjoying “The Garden on Sunset” immensely, and I’m impressed with your research. Your character Gwendolyn Brick from Hollywood, Florida reminded me of something that happened in the 1980s when Hollywood, CA wanted to make its name a registered trademark. Representatives from the other Hollywoods met in that Florida city to oppose the move, including some people from the Hollywood neighborhood of Brookfield, Illinois. Their story was that Virginia Whitley, who was from the Chicago area, took the name Hollywood from this little community west of Chicago. I haven’t seen it anywhere on the Web, but I was living in Oak Park at the time and remember reading about it in the Chicago Tribune. Have you heard this story–it was something of a mark of pride in the neighborhood?
Thanks, Steve. I do remember reading about Hollywood, CA’s attempt to trademark the name and all the other Hollywoods around the country rallying to stop them from doing that. There are several stories about how Hollywood (CA) got its name but most of them talk about how Mrs. Daeida Wilcox came by the name, and the story most often quoted is that she was on a train heading east and struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger whose property back in the mid-west was named Hollywood. Whatever the story, it was pretty ballsy of Hollywood, CA to try and claim the name as their exclusive property but hey, that’s Hollywood!