Silvia Moreno-Garcia says Hollywood’s dark side inspired ‘Seventh Salome’s Veil’ – Orange County Register

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has long been enchanted by the world of cinema.

The author, who was born and raised in Mexico and now lives in Canada, wrote a novel, “Silver Nitrate,” about a cursed horror film, and her other novels, including “Mexican Gothic,” “Velvet Was the Night” and “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” has cinematic scope and rhythm.

SEE ALSO: Sign up for our free Book Pages newsletter on bestsellers, authors, and more

So it’s no surprise that she turned to Hollywood’s Golden Age for her latest film, “Salome’s Seventh Veil.” The novel, selected by “Good Morning America” for its book club, is set in 1955 and follows Vera, a young Mexican actress who takes part in an epic biblical film about Salome, the princess mentioned (although not by name) in the Gospel. of Marcos.

Vera’s casting upsets Nancy, a struggling actress who has been eyeing the role – and who also harbors a crush on Jay, a jazz musician who is courting Vera. Nancy burns while Vera shoots the film, and eventually something terrible happens.

Moreno-Garcia answered questions about “Salome’s Seventh Veil” by phone from Dallas, where she was on a book tour. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Q: How did you decide you wanted to write a novel set in Hollywood’s Golden Age?

I have a great love for old films, so I knew about the period. When I thought about writing about Salome, one of the questions that arose was how to face her. I ended up discovering that I should do Hollywood because Salomé is a mythical woman who reappears in art, and Hollywood is the place where women of that time were transformed into myths: Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth. Hollywood just incorporated the aspects of the myth that I wanted.

Q: How familiar were you with Salome, the historical and biblical figure, before writing the book?

In a way, but when I started I spent a lot more time analyzing different representations of her. And music, for me, was one of the key elements. I read Oscar Wilde’s play “Salomé” and then went to see Richard Strauss’s opera “Salomé” on stage while I was working on this novel. When I saw it, I was intrigued by what Strauss is doing musically. When “Salome” premiered, it was a somewhat scandalous production, both because it was based on a play by Oscar Wilde and because of the musical choices he made. Strauss uses something called polytonality, which is when you play different tones at the same time. If you want to imagine what that sounds like, it’s a bit like the intro theme to “Twilight Zone,” which creates a sense of anxiety.

SEE ALSO: Bestsellers, authors, books and more can be found in the Books section

It’s not that soft, melodious thing we always think of when we think of classical music. There are clashes there, and it makes you a little anxious about what’s going to happen. I was intrigued by the idea of ​​toning two or more shades or hues competing at the same time and wanted to replicate that on the page. That’s why I have many different points of view in the novel. I was also really struck by the idea of ​​what opera does to emotion on stage, how really big everything is.

Q: What kind of research have you done on the historical and biblical Salome?

We don’t even know if she was called Salome in the Bible. She has no name. It’s just a few lines from the Bible. It’s a really smaller number. Historically, there was a Salome who was the daughter of Herodias, but we know very little about her. Therefore, there is not much material to draw on a smaller figure, but there are many artistic representations. Salome is different from other women in the Bible who may have a lot more screen time, and you know whether they are good or bad. For example, Judith is a hero because she cuts off Holofernes’ head and defeats the bad guys in the Bible, and because of that she is a good guy.

We know that Delilah is evil because she cuts Samson’s hair and takes away his strength. So we know how to navigate these women. Salome is an opaque figure because we don’t know what’s wrong with her because there’s so little of her in the Bible. For this reason, depictions of Salomé vary greatly over time, and sometimes you get the innocent Salomé depending on who is writing, painting, or making the film. Rita Hayworth in the 1950s played the innocent Salomé, but you also see the evil, sexy, and destructive Salomé when you look at other portrayals. There is a multiplicity of Salomé, all coexisting through art and time. That’s what I found interesting about the figure, that it exists in a space where it can be anything and everything at the same time.

Q: Was Vera inspired by any specific Golden Age actor?

I read a lot of biographies of different people all over the map and I really liked an autobiography by Rita Moreno where she talked about her experiences in Hollywood and how difficult it was to be a Latina woman at that time. And I also read a biography about Dorothy Dandridge, who was an African-American actress. They were very talented women who received Oscar nominations. They could sing, they could dance, they could act, they were triple threats. They were beautiful. And because of the studio system at the time and the racism inherent in the industry, they didn’t get the chances they should have.

People like Natalie Wood have long and successful careers, but Rita Moreno didn’t know where to place her. And the same thing happens with Dorothy Dandridge. “Carmen Jones” is doing very well. It’s a box office success and they don’t know where to put her because she’s black. They can’t put her with a white lead because it will be censored in the South if they kiss or something. And there aren’t many African-American productions being made where she can be the lead, so she’s been caught in a downward spiral. These are people who should be as big as Marilyn Monroe. They should have had the same chances as Marilyn, as Grace Kelly, but they really didn’t.