Typewriter Beach

“An irresistible story of 1950s Hollywood featuring a restless ingénue who befriends a blacklisted screenwriter… Readers will be riveted.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Clayton delivers another top-tier dual-timeline historical. Thought-provoking and timely, it’s sure to be a big summer hit.” –Library Journal (starred review)

* An instant USA Today Bestseller *
* Washington Post 5 Works of Historical Fiction to Read This Summer *
* Top 10 Library Read (thank you, Librarians!) *
* Los Angeles Times 10 Reads for a Beach Day *
* Publishers Weekly Summer Read *
* Amazon Editors’ Choice *
* Woman’s World Book Club Pick *
* Zibby Books That’ll Make You Swoon *
* AARP Summer Read *
* Zibby Most Anticipated Book of 2025 *
* Modern Mrs Darcy Summer Read *
* Alabama Booksmith Signed First Editions Selection *
* Book Report Network Readers’ Top 6 Pick *
* A Hadassah Magazine Summer Read *
* Alta Journal Books to Read in July *
* Book Browse Best of July *

Read about Typewriter Beach in USA Today
An Interview with Meg on Lit Hub

“Intrigue to spare … Fans of Hollywood’s golden age will fall in love.” – Publishers Weekly, on its Summer Reads list

“Under the shimmer of 1950s movie magic and the shadows of the McCarthy era, this romantic, moody mystery spotlights life in front of the camera.” – Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX, on the Library Reads Top 10 list

Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Hollywood, Typewriter Beach is an unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock’s new star. 

1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard seven-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio’s “fixer” in a tiny Carmel cottage, waiting and dreading.

Meanwhile, next door, Léon Chazan is annoyed as hell when Iz interrupts his work on yet another screenplay he won’t be able to sell, because he’s been blacklisted. Soon, they’re together in his roadster, speeding down the fog-shrouded Big Sur coast.

2018. Twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan, in Carmel to sell her grandfather’s cottage, finds a hidden safe full of secrets—raising questions about who the screenwriter known simply as Chazan really was, and whether she can live up to his name.

In graceful prose and with an intimate understanding of human nature, Meg Waite Clayton captures the joys and frustrations of being a writer, being a woman, being a star, and being in love. Typewriter Beach is the story of two women separated by generations—a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.

“Under the shimmer of 1950s movie magic and the shadows of the McCarthy era, this romantic, moody mystery spotlights life in front of the camera.” — Shelf Awareness

“Like the carriage of a well-oiled Olivetti, this novel moves between Carmel and Hollywood, in two different centuries, with ease.” – Bethanne Patrick, The Los Angeles Times

“This riveting historical brings McCarthy-era Hollywood to life… I loved this story for its propulsive plot and riveting period details, most especially the numerous lovely portrayals of people finding love and family even when they’d given up hope of it happening for them in an unkind world.” – Modern Mrs Darcy

“Readers are taken to 1950s California in this riveting saga… As secrets emerge, lives intersect in astonishing ways.” – Melissa D’Agnese, Woman’s World

“Questions of love, femininity, work, power, family, and future abound in this compelling tale of old Hollywood and new.” – Alta Journal

“An unhurried tale about the flaws of the film industry and the healing power of human connection.” – Kirkus

“Meg Waite Clayton pulls the reader into the story with nuanced, believable characters and prose that tells ‘just enough’ to keep reading until the end . . . . Typewriter Beach is not just a captivating story about Hollywood in the 50’s and 60’s or another examination of what family is about, it is also a portrait of the strength and importance of friendship and an intense look at the effect that the sowing of distrust can have on society.” — The Gloss Book Club

“5 Challah rating—Typewriter Beach is a wonderfully woven story with unexpected twists and connections. Written from alternating perspectives, it redefines family.” — Jewish Voice and Opinion

“An inventive tale of family love across generations.” – Sandee Brawarsky, Hadassah Magazine