The Mirage Factory: Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles, by Gary Krist. Crown, 2018

I’ve read a good bit about the early days of Los Angeles, so there were parts of this book that had me wondering if I’d read this one before. Obviously, no. But there are just only so many ways of describing an event.

Krist tells LA’s story by focusing on three people who were important in shaping the development of old LA: William Mulholland, D.W. Griffith, and Aimee Semple McPherson. Mulholland was the engineer who found a (temporary) solution to Los Angeles’s lack of water: drain the Owens Valley of what they thought was ample water. It was him that allowed the green lawns and lush gardens that existed for decades, before water restrictions hit. D.W. Griffith was a director working during the birth of motion pictures, who made movies an art instead of hamminess - and also made one of the most racist movies ever, The Birth of a Nation. McPherson was an evangelist who moved from the mid-west to LA to found a church that is still going- and created a space for non-mainline religions in the city. All three shaped LA; all three ended up more or less in disgrace.

What makes this book different from the other “Old LA” books I’ve read is the amount of detail Krist has put into it. He’s dug a lot deeper than most others. Even though I knew the stories of Mulholland and Griffith, their stories held my attention- especially the part about the St. Francis dam failure that killed 400 people- I had never heard of that event! The chapters alternate between the three main characters; they never weave together even though they all were working during the same era. Enjoyable to read and full of facts. Four stars. 

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The Battle for Beverly Hills: A City’s Independence and the Birth of Celebrity Politics, by Nancie Clare. St. Martin’s Press, 2018

While on a map it looks like the city of Los Angeles is a giant amoeba that has engulfed everything in the county, there is an island in the middle of it that stands out: Beverly Hills is an incorporated city to this day. It had not existed for very many years as a city (it was originally a lima bean farm) when it was proposed that it be annexed by Los Angeles- the denizens of Beverly Hills had huge gardens with water hungry plantings and the small well in city property wasn’t keeping up with demands. Allowing themselves to be annexed by LA would give them access to the Owens Valley water that was making Los Angeles green. But it would also mean they could no longer have their own school system and police force. In Prohibition Era Beverly Hills, having police that turned a blind eye to booze fueled parties was a very nice perk.

Not all Beverly Hills denizens wanted or needed these perks, and developers were dying to put in more housing but needed a good water source to do so. So it was put up to a vote. This was when the first instance of celebrity campaigning took place. Mary Pickford (and others, but she was the main one) took to speaking for remaining a separate city heavily. And it worked. This started the habit of Hollywood stars speaking out for politicians and issues.

The book is fairly short, and if you are into early century southern California history, it is fun. The celebrities, the horribly corrupt LA police force, the development of what Beverly Hills was going to look like; it all made its mark on the area. Well written. Four out of five stars. 

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I received this book free from Net Galley in return for an unbiased review. 

Neither of these things influenced my review. 

The Woman in the Camphor Trunk, by Jennifer Kincheloe. Seventh Street Books, 2017

The opening scene of this novel has the protagonist running down the beach, with a rotting head in a bucket, trying to escape a policeman. Hampered by long, tight, skirts and fancy shoes, she almost doesn’t make it, but in the end she escapes.

Set in 1908 Los Angeles, Anna Blanc, society girl, has (in the last novel, which I did not read) turned crime solver and spurned her arranged engagement. This has caused her father to disown her and cast her out without a penny. She is living in a rundown apartment, surrounded by fancy furniture and fine dresses and hats, shoes unfit for walking the disgusting streets of LA, and a few pieces of jewelry that she had loaned out the day her father kicked her out. She lives on a diet of Cracker Jacks and tinned kippers, having, at the beginning, no income and a lot of back rent to pay.

She has now been hired as assistant matron at the LA precinct house and jail; her job is to chase down runaways, deal with ladies of the night, interview women who feel uneasy talking to male police, and basically not do anything exciting. But when she gets taken along on an interview in Chinatown, the case gets interesting. The body of a white woman is found in a trunk- in the room of a Chinese man. Given the rampant racism of the time, this could ignite riots. The investigation must take place quickly and quietly. Add to this an incipient tong war over kidnapped child prostitutes, and a personal angle with the slain white woman, and we have a complex narrative. Of course there is a romantic thread, too, one that started in the previous book, with a detective who wants to marry and have a family. Anna refuses to swear obedience to anyone, and does not want to have children.  And then there is that rotting head…

I loved the writing. Kincheloe brought old Los Angeles to life for me, including the non-tourist part of Chinatown where much of the story takes place. The author puts details about things like dress, enough to show the era, but not *too* much detail. I liked Anna, although she is a little bit too full of her ability to take care of herself. Like it or not, a woman in heavy skirts and a corset, untrained in weapons or self-defense, cannot wander into just any situation and expect to fight her way out! The other characters are good, and I hope they get fleshed out more as the series continues. The killer was one I didn’t expect, but the killer had reasons that made sense for the time and place. Five stars. 

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something-anything- from Amazon they will give me a few cents. 

I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program. in return for an honest review 

Neither of these things influenced my review.