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The Great Pretenders

Laura Kalpakian
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for The Great Pretenders
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. PART I
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. PART II
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. PART III
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-one
  29. Chapter Twenty-two
  30. Chapter Twenty-three
  31. Chapter Twenty-four
  32. Chapter Twenty-five
  33. Chapter Twenty-six
  34. PART IV
  35. Chapter Twenty-seven
  36. Chapter Twenty-eight
  37. Chapter Twenty-nine
  38. Chapter Thirty
  39. Chapter Thirty-one
  40. Chapter Thirty-two
  41. Chapter Thirty-three
  42. Chapter Thirty-four
  43. Chapter Thirty-five
  44. PART V
  45. Chapter Thirty-six
  46. Chapter Thirty-seven
  47. Chapter Thirty-eight
  48. Chapter Thirty-nine
  49. Chapter Forty
  50. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  51. Readers Guide
  52. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  53. Acknowledgments
  54. About the Author
  55. What’s next onyour reading list?

Cover

Cover for The Great Pretenders

Praise for The Great Pretenders

“What a good book! Engagingly readable, full of Golden Age of Hollywood glitz—and a wonderful story of idealism, courage, and the price of love. Enjoyed every page!”

—Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlander

“In her riveting new novel, Laura Kalpakian has given us a heroine to cheer for in this juicy tale of Hollywood. Roxanne Granville’s journey from diffident daughter of privilege to boundary-shattering career woman who takes on both the Hollywood blacklist and the racial prejudices of the early Civil Rights era is breathtaking and moving, even epic.”

—Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Girls in the Picture

“Set against the glitter of Hollywood during the McCarthy era, one courageous woman, forced to start anew, reinvents herself as an agent and ends up selling blacklisted scripts. The screenwriters she represents are every bit as forbidden as the African American man she falls in love with. Kalpakian has written a timely story that deftly deals with racism and the fight for justice. The Great Pretenders is poignant, touching, and often filled with laugh-out-loud wit.”

—Renée Rosen, author of Park Avenue Summer

“A fascinating journey into the intrigues and hypocrisies of 1950s Hollywood, coupled with an indomitable heroine who dares to shatter the rules. Exciting, fast-paced, and revelatory.”

—C. W. Gortner, author of The Romanov Empress

“Both a wild romp through glittering 1950s Hollywood and a poignant journey of love and courage in the blacklist era of the silver screen. I was swept away by the passionate story and whip-smart writing. Laura Kalpakian’s clever prose introduces us to a vibrant woman we can admire—a woman both brave and vulnerable. After one fearless choice, her life seems to careen toward certain wreckage, yet Roxanne is there to show us that integrity and love are the conquering powers. Deeply moving, intelligent, and charming, this is a story to savor.”

—Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop at Water’s End

Dedication

For Zai Pakradouhi McCreary
And for her great-grandmother,
Pakradouhi Kalpakian Johnson

Epigraph

Here’s looking at you, kid.

—CASABLANCA, 1941

PART I

A Daughter of Empire

1953

Chapter One