Typewriter Beach: A Historical Fiction Novel about the Friendship Between a Screenwriter and a Hollywood Actress

Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Hollywood, Typewriter Beach follows the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress. In 1957, Isabella Giori is ten months into a seven-year studio contract when she auditions with Alfred Hitchcock. Weeks later, the studio's "fixer" isolates her in a tiny Carmel cottage. Next door, Léon Chazan, a blacklisted screenwriter, is interrupted from his work when Iz arrives. The two soon find themselves together, driving down the fog-shrouded Big Sur coast. In 2018, twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan comes to Carmel to sell her grandfather's cottage and discovers a hidden safe full of secrets. This discovery raises questions about the screenwriter known as Chazan and whether Gemma can live up to his legacy. Through graceful prose, the novel explores the experiences of writers, women, stars, and those in love, weaving together the stories of two women across generations—a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.