Name: Do Tell
Rating: 4 (15 reviews)
Author: Lindsay Lynch

About this book

Summary
Book Club Questions

Book Summary

Debut novelist Lindsay Lynch brings the golden age of Hollywood to glittering life, from star-studded opening nights to backlot brawls, on-location Westerns to the Hollywood Canteen.

As character actress Edie O'Dare finishes the final year of her contract with FWM Studios, the clock is ticking for her to find a new gig after an undistinguished stint in the pictures. She's long supplemented her income moonlighting for Hollywood's reigning gossip columnist, providing her with the salacious details of every party and premiere. When an up-and-coming starlet hands her a letter alleging an assault from an A-list actor at a party with Edie and the rest of the industry's biggest names in attendance, Edie helps get the story into print and sets off a chain of events that will alter the trajectories of everyone involved.

Now on a new side of the entertainment business, Edie's second act career grants her more control on the page than she ever commanded in front of the camera. But Edie quickly learns that publishing the secrets of those former colleagues she considers friends has repercussions. And when she finds herself in the middle of the trial of the decade, Edie is forced to make an impossible choice with the potential to ruin more than one life.

Through Edie's wry observations, Lynch maps the intricate networks of power that manufacture the magic of the movies, and interrogates who actually gets to tell women's stories.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

What was your impression of the golden age of Hollywood before reading Do Tell? How did the novel change the way you thought about the studio system and the actors, directors, publicists, and writers that made up its ecosystem? What did you get right?
Edie says she built her career by focusing on "the things actors won't say" (p 3). What do you think is the most valuable secret she picks up on over the course of the novel? How does covert observation play into your life, relationships, and work?
Edie and Charles discuss their working-class backgrounds in contrast to their current circumstances as Hollywood actors. How do you think Edie's childhood shapes her adult outlook? How does her experience of scarcity differ from Seb's?
...

Media Reviews

"Do Tell illuminates issues of fame and notoriety as relevant now as they were almost a century ago." —Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of Horse

"An intelligent story of Hollywood's Golden Age... the dialogue and Edie's narration are steeped in the rapid-fire rhythm of the era's films... Lovers of the silver screen will be drawn to this." —Publishers Weekly

"Entertaining... An intimate look at Hollywood's dark secrets." —Kirkus Reviews

"Between the glittering descriptions of couture gowns and award shows, this scathing, retrospective #MeToo tale focuses on how people will protect famous, predatory men out of self-preservation... Readers looking for a novel that covers all the drama Hollywood has to offer, from its glitz to its evils, will find much to enjoy here." —Booklist

"A wonderful, provocative novel about the way time changes how we see the world. Edie O'Dare is a failed Hollywood actress who reinvents herself as a gossip columnist in order to keep a roof over her head, only to discover that this is the job she's good at. Like our intrepid narrator, Do Tell manages to be both funny and substantive, breezy and wise. I stepped into the stream of the narrative and didn't look up until I came to the last page." —Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of The Dutch House

A scintillating, page-turning novel: "There is little more alluring than the promise of secrets, and Do Tell is full of them–glamorous, tawdry, and human. A rich portrait of the lives of early Hollywood's beautiful puppets and those holding their strings." —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow

"In Do Tell Lindsay Lynch takes a glance back at golden-age Hollywood and captures the fizzy magic, the secret lives, and the deep, destructive misogyny within the industry's DNA. This is a wry, entertaining, and incisive debut." —Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers

"This dazzling novel is a riveting exposé of the dream factory which will surprise readers at every turn. You won't be able to put it down." —Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

"Do Tell is an absolute marvel: page-turning yet thought-provoking, historical in its setting yet contemporary in its concerns. With a keen eye for period detail, Lindsay Lynch explores how the power of secrets were the secret to power in Hollywood's Golden Age. The result is a deeply moving, immensely satisfying, blockbuster of a debut novel." —Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Presents

"Lindsay Lynch has written a novel so thoroughly immersive, I looked up from its pages disoriented — confused not to find myself amid the couture gowns and hushed secrets of old Hollywood. I'll tell every reader I know: I adored Do Tell." — Mary Laura Philpott, bestselling author of Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives

"Do Tell is a glittering, riot of a debut filled with tantalizing gossip, lavish parties and an insider's glimpse into a bygone era of Hollywood glamour. Lindsay Lynch brings the studio system to life with these unforgettable yet deeply complicated characters whose lives are caught at the crossroads of power and truth telling. This is a novel you won't want to miss." —Kali Fajardo-Anstine, bestselling author of Woman of Light and Sabrina & Corina

"An electric novel about power and complicity in the Golden Age of Hollywood told through the eyes of Edith O'Dare, a narrator as fearsome as she is fallible. In Do Tell, Lindsay Lynch masterfully uncovers a world in which gossip is currency and image is everything, laying bare the devastating consequences of secrets told and untold. Enthralling and utterly relevant." —Jenny Tinghui Zhang, international bestselling author of Four Treasures of the Sky

This information about Do Tell was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own review

Mark S. (Blauvelt, NY)

Tell Me More!
For a debut novel, I was thoroughly impressed. This type of novel is a bit out of my comfort zone, but the characters, the plot lines, and Lynch's choice to tell her story through the lens of an actress turned gossip columnist kept me intrigued throughout. From the gossip, the scandals, and the often secretive sentimentality, she captured everything that made (and makes) Hollywood so fascinating. At times, it felt like catching up on the people who would have frequented Jay Gatsby's parties in the 20s. I look forward to reading Lynch's next work.

Gina V. (Bloomington, IN)

"I'm all ears — do tell!"
Set in the golden age of Hollywood, but still relevant today (unfortunately) - this is a novel of resiliency, resourcefulness, and reinvention.

When Edie's dream of being an actress is coming to an end and a major Tinseltown scandal that she has insider knowledge about is just ramping up, she capitalizes on her part-time gig as a tipster to a popular gossip columnist to start her own gossip column. Edie uses her influence as "the most feared woman in Hollywood" to try to do some good in a town where decency is in short supply.

Do Tell will appeal to fans of 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo', Hollywood history buffs, and movie fans in general. It would be a great book for book clubs. It's insightful and has some unexpected turns. I couldn't put it down!

Charlene M. (Myrtle Beach, SC)

DoTell
Lindsay Lynch's debut novel "Do Tell" is a tell all of the glorious & often tragic golden age of early Hollywood. A history of the power studios had over the careers of the actors & the dreams that were shattered by just a small article in a gossip column.
I highly recommend this book. I wait anticipatedly for Lindsay's next novel.

Julie Z. (Oak Park, IL)

Do Tell
1930s Hollywood: Edie O'Day is an actress whose contract is about to run out at FWM studios. She has not achieved great success in acting, but as an insider, has flourished in helping out the local gossip columnist with her work. When Edie decides to write her own column, she finds that writing about her former peers can be uncomfortable, and the repercussions downright nasty. This book is for anyone who loves the golden age of Hollywood. Lynch does a great job recreating the atmosphere of the time.

Helia R. (Goodlettsville, TN)

A great book club pick!
A fascinating debut novel, told from a place way out of my comfort zone. As someone who doesn't much care for gossip or celebrity, I didn't expect to be drawn so deeply into the life of a B-actress turned gossip columnist covering Hollywood's golden years. But I was, mostly due to the well-drawn, complex characters. There's a lot to learn here about the power studios yielded over their stars pre-World War II and the power established columnists had to make or break fortunes. The aptly (re-named) Edie O'Dare discovers the secrets beyond the glamour and turns them into her own pot of gold.

From the first, I was impressed with Edie's choice to look out for herself. She isn't a lovable character for the most part. While she tries to get justice for a teenage girl raped at a Hollywood party, she is not going to risk her reputation for the sake of the wronged girl. She has to take care of herself and her vulnerable writer brother if they are to thrive.

Are the choices Edie and others make to further their careers sensible, understandable, or morally repugnant? Only you, dear reader, can decide. Do tell.

Janet T. (Northbrook, IL)

Secrets and gossip
Golden age Hollywood behind the scenes was just right for my early summer reading. I was caught up in this story of alliances and gossip in a sometimes struggling studio. Edie, the actor and purveyor of gossip is someone I enjoyed following. Women in a male-run world, hmmm, what could go wrong?

...15 more reader reviews

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Author Information

Biography

Lindsay Lynch

Lindsay Lynch is a writer from Washington, DC. A longtime indie bookseller, she currently lives in Nashville, TN, where she works as a book buyer for Parnassus Books. Her work has appeared in The Adroit Journal, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, The Atlantic, The Offing and Lit Hub, among other places. She has been a participant in the Tin House Summer Workshop and the Napa Valley Writers' Conference. She holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Wyoming. Do Tell is her debut novel.

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