In Another Side of Paradise, Sally Koslow gives us an intimate portrait of a tumultuous love affair that defies tragedy. You will not want to put it down.” — David Gillham, New York Times bestselling author of City of Women
“A stunning, utterly captivating read. Another Side of Paradise delivers an unforgettable portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham, a remarkable couple steeped in all the glamour, romance, and intrigue of old Hollywood. Their wild ride of a love affair is one for the ages!” — Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House and Glory Over Everything
“Isn’t a beautifully written page-turner the ideal read? Well, here it is. I am full of admiration and gratitude for this wonderful novel. Brava, Sally Koslow. I didn’t want your fascinating and tender book to end.” — Elinor Lipman, author of On Turpentine Lane and The Inn at Lake Devine
“Koslow’s imagined account of the real-life affair between the writer and the seductive expat is captivating.” — People
“This fictional telling of (F. Scott Fitzgerald’s) real-life romance is rich in historical detail, celebrity dish, and old-fashioned human drama.” — Good Housekeeping
“Sally Koslow’s novel about the romance between legendary gossip columnist Sheilah Graham and F. Scott Fitzgerald is addictive reading. Even if you think you know about her rags-to-riches rise in London and Hollywood, or the couple’s relationship, you’ll be surprised by the nuance and new details that Another Side of Paradise brings to light.” — Meryl Gordon, New York Times bestselling author of Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend
“Looking for something deliciously dishy with a side of wry? This golden age Hollywood novel is your ticket.” — Oprah.com
Looking for something deliciously dishy with a side of wry? This golden age Hollywood novel is your ticket.”
This fictional telling of (F. Scott Fitzgerald’s) real-life romance is rich in historical detail, celebrity dish, and old-fashioned human drama.
A stunning, utterly captivating read. Another Side of Paradise delivers an unforgettable portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham, a remarkable couple steeped in all the glamour, romance, and intrigue of old Hollywood. Their wild ride of a love affair is one for the ages!
In Another Side of Paradise, Sally Koslow gives us an intimate portrait of a tumultuous love affair that defies tragedy. You will not want to put it down.
Koslow’s imagined account of the real-life affair between the writer and the seductive expat is captivating.
Sally Koslow’s novel about the romance between legendary gossip columnist Sheilah Graham and F. Scott Fitzgerald is addictive reading. . . you’ll be surprised by the nuance and new details that Another Side of Paradise brings to light.
Isn’t a beautifully written page-turner the ideal read? Well, here it is. I am full of admiration and gratitude for this wonderful novel. Brava, Sally Koslow. I didn’t want your fascinating and tender book to end.
03/19/2018
Koslow (The Widow Waltz) takes on the tumultuous affair of ambitious Hollywood gossip columnist Sheilah Graham and literary lion F. Scott Fitzgerald in this dishy interpretation of Graham’s memoir, Beloved Infidel. Here, Koslow plays off the “weakness and self-deception” of British expat Graham, who reinvents herself in America to hide a poverty-stricken childhood in a London Jewish orphanage and a sexless first marriage to a salesman. Fitzgerald, who comes to Hollywood to reignite his writing career while battling alcoholism, is preoccupied with thoughts about his mentally ill wife, Zelda, and his own fading fame. Though generously peppered with the big names and gossip of the 1930s, the narrative is driven by the tortured relationship between Graham and Fitzgerald in which both succumb to the worst in each other. This version aims to excuse and soften Graham’s unrepentant opportunism—“telling lies” is “no harder than breathing,” she says. And it plays up a version of Fitzgerald as a diligent craftsman and mentor rather than as a mean and abusive drunk. Koslow may be rewriting a feel-good version of the Graham-Fitzgerald romance, but it’s an intoxicating one. (May)
2018-03-05
Gossip columnist Sheilah Graham's side of her less-than-paradisiacal love affair with F. Scott Fitzgerald during the last three years of his life.Koslow's portrayal begins with Sheilah's refusing to accept the fact that Scott has just died. Flashbacks form the rest of the novel, narrated by Sheilah. Born to a poor Jewish family in London, Sheilah (nee Lily Shiel) is consigned to an orphanage by a mother unable to care for her, but she eventually attains enough respectability to attract upper-class suitors. She marries the much older John Graham Gillam, who is more mentor than husband—they will divorce amicably—and with his blessing achieves a measure of acclaim on the London stage before journeying to America to pursue a career in journalism. Her penchant for fluff pieces lends itself perfectly to gossip, and soon Sheilah's in Hollywood, challenging Louella Parsons and Hedda Hoper. The story of Sheilah and Scott's instant chemistry and their on-again, off-again, but always intense liaison is told with taste and sympathy for these deeply flawed characters: Scott, whose best intentions are always derailed by his frequent tumbles off the wagon, and Sheilah, who grows increasingly weary of concealing her déclassé origins, real name, and Jewishness. She's not entirely reassured when Scott points out that most of Hollywood's movie moguls are Jewish and that the majority of movie stars have what he refers to as a "nom de guerre." As Scott tries to improve on Sheilah's education with a Western canon reading list, she acts as his personal manager, remediating the chaotic aftermath of his drinking bouts. Scott's bad luck as a screenwriter is entertainingly depicted as he's fired from such iconic films as Gone with theWind (despite Sheilah's help with visualizing the character of Scarlett) and The Women. Koslow's writing is vibrant and colorful, and the denizens of Scott's world are ably summed up in a few pithy swipes: "In 1935, Dorothy [Parker] was a wicked, eyelash-batting pixie willing to catapult into any conversation."A stylish reiteration of a sad, oft-told tale.
