Latham Loop
Laura Mazzuca ToopsHistorical romance
Available from Amber Quill Press
2003
| Jed Billings and Harold Gilbert are "Billings & Gilbert, Jugglers Extraordinaire". Jed's wife Mim travels with them as they work small towns to earn their living. Stranded in Topeka on the 4th of July, with very little money between them, they argue over their next destination-Jed and Min want to play it safe and go to New York to continue on the Broadway Vaudeville circuit, but twenty year old Harold wants to go to California, home of moving pictures and palm trees. A flip of a coin determines California is where they're headed. With money from the sale of Harold's watch, they're able to purchase three tickets to the Golden State.
Max Randolph came from New York to pursue acting. He drives a delivery van three shifts a week, he also spends 12-18 hours per day whenever he gets a job as an extra at one of the movie studios. When Max and Harold meet up, there is a prime example of good guy and bad guy. Max is out for number one and will do just about anything for money, including selling drugs and concocting schemes to get his way. Harold, on the other hand, just wants to make good pictures and gets along with almost everyone. The Latham Loop by Laura Mazzuca Toops is a realistic story about the California Film Industry in the early nineteen hundreds. It's a story of dreams-dreams that Max and Harold share, but for different reasons. Ms. Toops has defintely done her research, and tells the story very graphically with realistic descriptions of the era. She also does a great job of making you feel and see what the characters are about. The majority of the book is well-written, however, in my opinion, there are too many instances of unnecessary information that makes it hard to follow the story-line. These added plot twists cause the book to drag on. All-in-all, the story is enjoyable and historically credible. As I've said before, a review is just one person's opinion, and if you enjoy historicals set in this era, I urge you to read The Latham Loop and draw your own conclusion.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Brett Scott |
