Book Review: The Seventh Veil of Salome
For those of us who grew up with or grew into a fascination with the Old Hollywood studio system, and the way it thoroughly screwed over everyone involved, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest, The Seventh Veil of Salome is not to be missed.
The story primarily follows the points of view of three women: Hollywood newcomer Vera, recently arrived from Mexico to be cast as Salome in a biblical epic film that has all of Hollywood’s attention; Nancy, a bitter, self-destructive aspiring actress who resents Vera’s “undeserved” success; and Salome herself, with Moreno-Garcia taking occasional breaks from the 1950s narrative to jump way back in time and follow Salome in the days and weeks leading up to her infamous dance of the seven veils.
These three narratives are occasionally interwoven with first-person accounts from other characters in the story, in the style of an oral history, giving perspectives and context apart from Nancy and Vera’s, and while the shift back and forth from first- to third-person narration is a little jarring at first, things quickly settle into a rhythm that feels so seamless, it’s hard to imagine the story being told any other way.
If anything, the addition of the first-person narratives help inject a sense of additional tension into Vera and Nancy’s stories. It’s less what they’re saying, and more what they’re talking around, with the added perspective of hindsight, that makes the third-person narratives feel that much more breathless, and will keep the reader turning the page.
Of course, the book also unflinchingly addresses the pervasiveness of racism, misogyny, sexual assault and double standards that were once so explicit. I hesitate to confine these things to being “of their time” as the only thing that has really changed is the way (most) people no longer say the quiet part out loud. Salome’s narrative is also a nice counterpoint to this, in that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And looking at the times we live in, things aren’t much different either.
The Seventh Veil of Salome is out on August 6. Special thank you to Random House Publishing for the advance copy for review purposes.
