Bloomsbury to Publish Happy Little Bluebirds by Louise Levene

‘A whip-smart comedy, chock-full with glamour, secret agents and sun-drenched Californian orange groves – seriously, what could be more heavenly?’ Saga

It is September 1940 and Evelyn Murdoch, a translator from the Postal Censorship department, is uprooted from her home in wartime Woking and transferred to Hollywood. She is to assist a mysterious British agent in his attempts to outwit the Los Angeles German delegation and boost the British propaganda war effort.

The unhappy young widow is supplied with a new Californian wardrobe, a Bel Air bungalow and her own desk in the writers’ block of Miracle Studios.

At first bewildered by the glamorous excesses of this strange new world, she is gradually seduced by the sunlight, orange groves and clever, fast-talking men. But, just as she begins to blossom, her new technicolor ending threatens to slip from her grasp.

  • An immaculately crafted and meticulously researched novel that will transport readers to Hollywood at the height of its golden age of glamour, politics and double-crossing
  • Perfect for fans of Muriel Spark and Barbara Pym, this acerbic and witty novel is a cross between The Girls of Slender Means and Hail, Caesar! from the Coen brothers
  • Louise Levene’s debut novel, A Vision of Loveliness, was a BBC Book at Bedtime and was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott First Novel Prize

Reviews
“For the perfect piece of Bank Holiday escapism, look no further … A whip-smart comedy, chock-full with glamour, secret agents and sun-drenched Californian orange groves – seriously, what could be more heavenly?” – Saga “Levene is a zesty storyteller and a master of the needle-sharp one-liner” – Sunday Telegraph

Author Biography
Louise Levene is the author of A Vision of Loveliness, a BBC Book at Bedtime, which was also longlisted for the Desmond Elliott First Novel prize, Ghastly Business and The Following Girls. She is the dance critic of the Financial Times and writes for the Spectator. She has also been an advertising copywriter, a window dresser, a radio presenter, an office cleaner, a crossword editor, a university tutor, a college professor and a saleslady. Louise Levene lives in London.

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