ARC Review: A Map to Paradise by Susan Meissner

A Map to Paradise
Author: Susan Meissner
Publication: Berkley (March 18, 2025)

Description: 1956, Malibu, California: 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…

My Thoughts: This story, which takes place mainly in December of 1956, tells the story of three women who though outwardly very different find that they have a lot in common.

Melanie Cole is hiding out in a house supplied by her lover after both were blacklisted in Hollywood having been accused of being Communists. Melanie had just had her first success as a movie actress and received rave reviews for her performance. Now, she is distraught that her career has ended and that she has been wrongly accused of being a Communist.

Eva is a housemaid and a refugee from Europe after the second World War. She is claiming to be Polish but is actually a Volga German. Her family for some generations has kept their German language and culture while living in Russia. Eva was almost sixteen when her father, older brother, and sweetheart were arrested and sent to a gulag. She flees with her sweetheart's mother and sister to Germany and spends some years in camps for displaced persons until she finds a sponsor to help her emigrate to the United States. 

June Blankenship lives next to Melanie's house where she cares for her agoraphobic brother-in-law who makes his living writing film scripts. Unknown to most, June has been her brother-in-law Elwood's script doctor for years while Elwood shuts himself in dwelling on the car accident that severely injured him and killed the woman he had fallen in love with. 

When Elwood commits suicide, June panics at the thought of losing her only home and source of income and buries him in his beloved rose garden. Melanie, who has been using Elwood as a sounding board for her troubles, gets suspicious when he stops communicating with her. She sends her maid Eva to find out what is going on in the Blankenship home.

The three women agree to work together once they understand each other's needs. All of them are displaced in one way or another and all of them are looking for a home filled with love and security. 

This was engaging historical fiction and was a great story of women's friendships. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.