A Map to Paradise — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Susan Meissner
Published Year: 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 1956, Malibu, Something is not right on Paradise Circle.

With her name on the Hollywood blacklist and her life on hold, starlet Melanie Cole has little choice in company. There is her next-door neighbor, Elwood, but the screenwriter’s agoraphobia allows for just short chats through open windows. He’s her sole confidante, though, as she and her housekeeper, Eva, an immigrant from war-torn Europe, rarely make conversation.

Then one early morning Melanie and Eva spot Elwood’s sister-in-law and caretaker, June, digging in his beloved rose garden. After that they don’t see Elwood at all anymore. Where could a man who never leaves the house possibly have gone?

As they try to find out if something has happened to him, unexpected secrets are revealed among all three women, leading to an alliance that seems the only way for any of them to hold on to what they can still call their own. But it’s a fragile pact and one little spark could send it all up in smoke…

First Impressions

Meissner has written some really lovely historical fiction. I’ve enjoyed a lot of her stories in the past and love how she writes strong female characters. I was intrigued to read a story about an actress in the 50s. I also loved the cover!

What I thought

This book was not quite what I expected. I thought it was going to be more of a story about the communists and how it influenced Hollywood and instead it ended up being more of a mystery.

Melanie has been blacklisted because her costar was named as a communist sympathizer. As a result, no one in Hollywood will hire her. Carson, her costar, has put her up in a house in Malibu since she’s the reason she can’t get work. Her next door neighbor, Elwood, is a reclusive screenwriter. When Melanie doesn’t hear from him or see him for a few days, she starts to get concerned and sends her maid over to the house to work for Elwood’s sister-in-law to see what is really happening.

I liked the first half of the book more than I liked the second half. The first half talked about Eva, the housekeeper, and what she dealt with as someone who was living in Russian during World War 2 and was now living in America claiming she is Polish. It also discussed Melanie dealing with the reality of being an assumed communist and how it took over her life. Once the story started centering more around June, Elwood’s sister-in-law, and how she had been in love with Elwood and taken care of him, I was less invested.

I found June and her story about being in love with Elwood to be irritating. I also found how she dealt with Elwood to be frustrating. Melanie was the only one in this story who spoke any kind of sense. Eva became invested in June so quickly and projected so much of her trauma on June.

While I was curious about the mystery of whether Elwood was still in the house and if not, where was he, the way it played out was not my favorite. I sided with Melanie a lot more with some of the decisions as opposed to June and found it difficult to be cheering for June in any way.