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Tula: The Golden Age of Hollywood
Publisher’s Tula is a novel of 78,000 words and 422 printed pages.
Trigger this novel contains adult themes.
Coming soon, an audiobook version of Tula plus translations.
Please look out for book two in this series, “Sunshine”, and book three, “Dana”.
Each book in the series focuses on a different character and different era.
*****
Tula
I never wanted to be a star. I just wanted to act in movies. I just wanted to get away from the impoverished streets of Brooklyn and live in relative comfort.
Now, at the close of the 1920s, I was the biggest name in Hollywood. My movies were the highest grossing in the business. Investors depended on me, producers depended on me, my fellow actors depended on me, and maybe the strain of that dependence triggered my emotional collapse.
Actually, I knew what trigged my emotional collapse - my father’s death. I found myself in an asylum, in the care of Dr Brooks. Along with my fiancé, fellow actor Gregory Powell, Dr Brooks was convinced that an underlying issue triggered my collapse, and he wanted me to record my life story, so that he could identify that issue.
Gregory had faith in me. He said he’d wait for me, and that he knew I’d make a full recovery. But to make that recovery, I had to address the underlying issue that had placed me in the asylum.
So, I offer you the notes that I prepared for Dr Brooks. To the best of my ability and memory, I recorded the important events that made up the first twenty-five years of my life. And within these notes I discovered the true reason for my emotional breakdown.
Trigger this novel contains adult themes.
Coming soon, an audiobook version of Tula plus translations.
Please look out for book two in this series, “Sunshine”, and book three, “Dana”.
Each book in the series focuses on a different character and different era.
*****
Tula
I never wanted to be a star. I just wanted to act in movies. I just wanted to get away from the impoverished streets of Brooklyn and live in relative comfort.
Now, at the close of the 1920s, I was the biggest name in Hollywood. My movies were the highest grossing in the business. Investors depended on me, producers depended on me, my fellow actors depended on me, and maybe the strain of that dependence triggered my emotional collapse.
Actually, I knew what trigged my emotional collapse - my father’s death. I found myself in an asylum, in the care of Dr Brooks. Along with my fiancé, fellow actor Gregory Powell, Dr Brooks was convinced that an underlying issue triggered my collapse, and he wanted me to record my life story, so that he could identify that issue.
Gregory had faith in me. He said he’d wait for me, and that he knew I’d make a full recovery. But to make that recovery, I had to address the underlying issue that had placed me in the asylum.
So, I offer you the notes that I prepared for Dr Brooks. To the best of my ability and memory, I recorded the important events that made up the first twenty-five years of my life. And within these notes I discovered the true reason for my emotional breakdown.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2023
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4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 18, 2023
Tula's story is hard to put down, I read the book in one sitting, This is an engrossing story of a young woman's childhood of neglect and rejection. Refusing to give up her dream of being a silent screen actress, she navigates her way through a difficult childhood. When Tula does break into stardom, her past continues to haunt her. Tula's broken spirit and soul threaten everything she worked so hard to achieve. This beautifully crafted story is one of the best books I read this year.
September 18, 2023
A beautifully written narrative recreating the golden age of Hollywood from Tula's point of view.
A conglomeration of the kind of stories we feel we know about, condensed into a believable chronology. Hannah Howe takes us from Tula's poverty-ridden childhood in Brooklyn, with an alcoholic father and a mother suffering from mental illness to the glittering fame of being a studios leading actress. Tula's fascination with all things movie-oriented drives her to pursue her dreams despite bullies, predators and the thoughts that plague her from the past. Eschewing the Mary Pickford copy cats, she develops her own acting style for silent movies and rubs shoulders with the legends who inspired her as a child.
Written in short, episodic chapters as notes by Tula to her own doctor as he helps her unpack the cause of her own emotional collapse, the novel unpacks themes, both savoury and otherwise, in a style that captures the imagination. My only disappointment was that it was rather shorter than I anticipated, and that none of the characters were real. I believe that Tula was based on Clara Bow and her meteoric rise in the 1920s; that makes sense though I can't confirm it.
Note: there are themes her that may trigger some regarding physical violence, rape and mental illness.
A conglomeration of the kind of stories we feel we know about, condensed into a believable chronology. Hannah Howe takes us from Tula's poverty-ridden childhood in Brooklyn, with an alcoholic father and a mother suffering from mental illness to the glittering fame of being a studios leading actress. Tula's fascination with all things movie-oriented drives her to pursue her dreams despite bullies, predators and the thoughts that plague her from the past. Eschewing the Mary Pickford copy cats, she develops her own acting style for silent movies and rubs shoulders with the legends who inspired her as a child.
Written in short, episodic chapters as notes by Tula to her own doctor as he helps her unpack the cause of her own emotional collapse, the novel unpacks themes, both savoury and otherwise, in a style that captures the imagination. My only disappointment was that it was rather shorter than I anticipated, and that none of the characters were real. I believe that Tula was based on Clara Bow and her meteoric rise in the 1920s; that makes sense though I can't confirm it.
Note: there are themes her that may trigger some regarding physical violence, rape and mental illness.
June 26, 2024
Interesting take
On early Hollywood, the transition to talking pictures, and the beginnings of an early movie actress, possibly drawn from several real-life stories of actresses. The depiction of an actress working herself, or being worked to, exhaustion and a nervous breakdown, felt very real. Not sure about the eventual "reason" for the collapse, which is revealed in the end, but whatever. (That's why only 4 stars.) I have the author's next book about Hollywood on deck because I find reading about the early days of the screen, real or fictional, very interesting.
Note: I do not like TWs. Your opinion may differ, and that's fine.
On early Hollywood, the transition to talking pictures, and the beginnings of an early movie actress, possibly drawn from several real-life stories of actresses. The depiction of an actress working herself, or being worked to, exhaustion and a nervous breakdown, felt very real. Not sure about the eventual "reason" for the collapse, which is revealed in the end, but whatever. (That's why only 4 stars.) I have the author's next book about Hollywood on deck because I find reading about the early days of the screen, real or fictional, very interesting.
Note: I do not like TWs. Your opinion may differ, and that's fine.
July 15, 2024
This book was very interesting. I enjoyed the easy flow of the writing and the way it was presented. The characters are memorable. A very good book. Would recommend. ❤️
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews