Book Club
En 1926, Ethel Wild y Florrie Daniels, amigas de la infancia, salen de Nueva Jersey en un Ford T y ponen rumbo al oeste: Florrie va a Hollywood para convertirse en guionista; Ethel va a ver a su marido en Nevada para tramitar el divorcio. A medida que el viaje avanza, las relaciones entre las dos amigas y su destino cambian de un modo dramático.

En 1952, en Los Ángeles, Louise Wilde, estrella de películas musicales de serie B, hereda inesperadamente la fortuna de la famosa guionista Florence Daniels, a la que apenas conocía. Entre los objetos heredados descubre fotos antiguas y diarios que relacionan a la difunta actriz con su madre. En casa, su marido, escritor y corresponsal herido en la guerra de Corea, es citado como sospechoso por el Comité de Actividades Antiamericanas.

Mujer entra por la izquierda es como una espléndida road movie, dos viajes en sentido contrario, separados por una generación. Jessica Brockmole traza una historia de amor y de amistad en la que se entreveran los abusos del poder político con las incidencias -adulterios, divorcios, frustraciones y satisfacciones- de la vida personal.

«Una novela tierna, emocionante, original y llena de detalles sobre la primera época de Hollywood. Después de haber leído esta impresionante novela dan muchas ganas de hacer un largo viaje en coche.» Hazel Gaynor

This book has 50’s Hollywood glamour written all over it.

This book got very boring, switching back and forth between two road trips that I cared less and less about.

A cherry 'Happy End! Happy end!' can't make up for all the rest. ( )

Great read. I still can't get over the fact that various companies kept taking on young women to use radio-active paint to finish their watch dials, even after they knew it was causing massive health problems. And then when too ill to work the girls lost their jobs with no compensation. ( )

I am a total sucker of novels set in old school Hollywood and America in the 1920s. Combine the two together, add in a vintage car and you have a book that it perfect for me. Woman Enters Left also throws into the mix a nasty occupational hazard, the fun of a road trip and the agony of a one-sided love. Then just when I think I couldn’t have any more favourites combined, there are excerpts of screenplays, diaries and letters. Needless to say, I loved Woman Enters Left. It was a lot deeper emotionally than I expected, with some very sad moments between characters and also posed several questions related to love, loss and secrets.

The story is a dual narrative across two historic time periods. The first is 1950s Hollywood. Louise Wilde is a firm B-grade movie star who isn’t getting the roles she wants. She’s sick of singing and tap-dancing in films and longs for something more serious. Louise rejects her latest role (small town girl who fills in for a Vegas showgirl friend) and decides to take to the road. She leaves behind her husband, searching for something fuzzy that was briefly remembered when she saw the picture of her mother in Florence Daniels’ apartment. It’s a road trip to find her former self, make sense of her past and reconcile with the difficulties of her present. (Also, as a movie star on the run, she can finally eat hamburgers and cake). Running in parallel as Louise heads east is the story of Florrie and Ethel (Louise’s mother) heading west. Florrie wants to become a screenwriter as it offers a steady salary and the chance to be recognised. Ethel just wants to reunite with her husband and daughter in Nevada after he left her a note saying he wanted a divorce. It’s a clunky journey in a Model T Ford (possibly the most difficult car to drive!) both mechanically and emotionally for the pair. Florrie and Ethel, once the best of friends, now hide a number of secrets from each other. As they make their way slowly on a shoestring, they rediscover their friendship. However, this serves to push the oldest, deepest secrets to the surface as Florrie and Ethel struggle with their emotions.

Woman Enters Left at first seems relatively simple as a story of two road trips but it covers issues of the respective time periods and those that are timeless. There is insight into the studio system of Hollywood (where actors were contracted to a studio and told what they will be acting in) and into the fear of Communism and those who are expressing anti-American views. The Korean War and aftereffects are also explored through the eyes of Louise’s husband. For Florrie and Ethel, the aftereffects of their war effort also packs the strongest emotional punch I’ve read of recent times. (I’m not giving away spoilers here, I want the reader to feel the same ‘Oh. No.’ moment!) Florrie also has the difficulty of trying to hide her feelings, which do not conform to the societal norms of the 1920s. Ethel is also deeply worried about being a divorcee and what that will mean for her and access to her daughter. Worry is a strong theme throughout the novel – of what others think, of what others expect. Can the characters develop strength to break through the barriers of society and hold their heads high?

I devoured this book in just a couple of days, as I felt incredibly invested in the stories of these women. It’s an emotional read where you can’t help but be on Louise, Florrie and Ethel’s sides as they fight to be individuals in a restricted time for women.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

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