I was very kindly given an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley and Quercus Books.

I've read one Silvia Moreno-Garcia book before and didn't especially enjoy it, but as soon as I heard she was writing about golden age Hollywood, I was seated. And I was far from disappointed - 'The Seventh Veil of Salome' delivers a lush tragedy, darting between two actresses in 1950s Hollywood at different ends of the success spectrum and a reimagined life of Salome herself, drawn from centuries of writings about this mysterious biblical figure. The level of detail is so intricate, so well-drawn, it's a feast for the eyes to read and the parallels between Vera, Nancy and Salome made for thoroughly diverting and interesting reading.

I read half of this book over a few sittings on the Bank Holiday Monday as I was coming back from a family wedding, but the second half took me much longer to read. And reflecting back, I think the second half was weaker than the first. Moreno-Garcia does all this work to set up a fascinating conflict that certainly mirrors the fanaticism of people who believe they've had something 'taken' from them that was never theirs in the first place (think a fangirls un-motivated hatred of the partner their fave celebrity marries), but it starts to falter rather than develop as we hit the 60% mark. The build up to Salome / Vera's dances went on for too long and lost momentum as we kept hearing the same things over and over again, waiting for what we knew would be a significant moment in the plot.

Nevertheless. For lovers of Hollywood's nasty side during the slow downfall of the studios or the rich intrigue of the legends of Salome, 'The Seventh Veil of Salome' should be added immediately to your TBR.

'The Seventh Veil of Salome' is available from 6th August.