Valeria Belletti (1898–1959)

What an insightful view into the 1920s! I've read quotes from this book in several other books on the period, and it was wonderful to read them in full context. Valeria Belletti was a 26-year-old Italian New Yorker when she went on an exciting vacation to California with her pal Irma. Valeria enjoyed the Golden State so much that she decided to stay. She settled down in California and began writing regular letters to Irma.

These are not exciting letters. This is a young woman writing to her bestie, explaining roommate woes and good dates and bad dates and sharing gossip about her new job--as secretary to Sam Goldwyn. Valeria is in Hollywood during a time of incredible transition. She quits for a time to make a dream trip to Italy to reunite with her father, only to find out he recently died, and struggles through sickness and legal issues before returning to the States. She returns to Los Angeles and chronicles changes as studios consolidate, but the instability of her job doesn't bother her too much as she's preparing for her own new job: as a wife. The letters end as Talkies emerge as the future of the industry.

Valeria comes across as such a bright, fierce woman. She is brave to strike off on her own to start anew in California, and to travel to Italy with her little-practiced Italian. She dates often, always with an eye to marriage, and is also guided by strict morals. Her viewpoint on the 1920s is an absolute treasure.… (mer)