Typewriter Beach A Novel
Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite Clayton, published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2025, is a novel that explores the intricate dynamics of friendship and ambition against the backdrop of Hollywood and Carmel-by-the-Sea. This edition spans 320 pages and is written in English. The narrative unfolds in two timelines: one in 1957, focusing on Isabella Giori, a young actress navigating the pressures of a studio contract and her aspirations to work with Alfred Hitchcock, and the other in 2018, where Gemma Chazan, a screenwriter, uncovers family secrets tied to her grandfather’s legacy.
Readers will find a rich exploration of the challenges faced by women in the film industry, as well as the complexities of creativity and personal identity. The story intertwines the lives of Isabella and Léon Chazan, a blacklisted screenwriter, highlighting their unexpected connection and shared struggles. Through graceful prose, Clayton delves into themes of passion, persistence, and the impact of history on personal aspirations, making Typewriter Beach a thoughtful reflection on the intersections of art, politics, and family across generations.
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Instant USA Today Bestseller · Washington Post 5 Works of Historical Fiction to Read This Summer · Top 10 Library Read · Los Angeles Times 10 Reads for a Beach Day · Publishers Weekly Summer Read · Woman’s World Book Club Pick · Zibby Books That’ll Make You Swoon · AARP Summer Read
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.
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