3.5
The Seventh Veil of Salome: A GMA Book Club Pick
ByPublisher Description
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine—but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.
“Whenever I want to read a book I know will be good, I go to Silvia Moreno-Garcia.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, BookPage, CrimeReads
1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.
So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.
Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.
But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.
Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.
“Whenever I want to read a book I know will be good, I go to Silvia Moreno-Garcia.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, BookPage, CrimeReads
1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.
So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.
Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.
But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.
Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Seventh Veil of Salome: A GMA Book Club Pick Reviews
3.5
“Silvia Moreno-Garcia has officially taught me something about myself as a reader.
Every single time I pick up one of her books, I spend the first quarter wondering if I’m smart enough to follow where she’s taking me. The timelines feel tangled. The characters seem disconnected. I’m convinced I’ve missed something.
And then…
Somewhere around the halfway mark, everything quietly clicks into place.
Not because the author suddenly starts explaining herself—but because she trusts the reader to do the work.
That’s what I admire most about her writing.
She doesn’t hand you the themes. She plants them like seeds and waits for you to notice them. She assumes you’re paying attention. She assumes you’ll wrestle with ambiguity. She assumes you’re intelligent enough to arrive at your own conclusions.
And what a payoff it is.
On the surface, this is a story about Golden Age Hollywood, the making of an epic film, and the biblical figure of Salome.
Beneath that, it’s a novel about women and the illusion of choice.
How much of our destiny do we actually choose when the world has already decided what our options are?
It’s about ambition, jealousy, survival, love, motherhood, power, sacrifice, and the stories history tells about women—and who gets to write those stories in the first place.
I found myself thinking constantly about how women are so often taught to compete instead of stand together. How systems thrive when we see each other as rivals instead of allies. How easy it is to mistake survival for freedom.
This isn’t a fast-paced page-turner. It’s a novel that slowly asks bigger and bigger questions until you realize you’ve stopped reading for the plot and started reading for the ideas.
By the end, I wasn’t just emotionally invested in these characters—I was grieving them, questioning them, and carrying their choices with me long after I closed the book.
If you’re someone who needs every answer immediately, this might feel frustrating at first.
But if you’re willing to trust Silvia Moreno-Garcia through those first hundred pages, she rewards that patience with one of the most thoughtful, layered, and emotionally resonant novels I’ve read this year.
Sometimes the best books don’t simply tell you a story.
They teach you how to read them.
This one did exactly that.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Forever shelf. 📚❤️”
About Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of Silver Nitrate, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Mexican Gothic, and many other books. She has won the Locus and British Fantasy Awards for her work as a novelist and the World Fantasy Award as an editor.
Other books by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
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