In Susan Meissner's new novel A Map to Paradise, three women hide from the world In their own unique ways. Melanie Cole is an actress tied to an actor on HUAC'S list of suspected communists. She stays in her Malibu home waiting for a call that she's been cleared and can return to acting. Her maid Eva Kruse tells people she is Polish to hide her German-Russian heritage. A survivor of the gulag, she is terrified to be who she is in the era of the Cold War. June Blankenship is sister-in-law to Melanie's friend and neighbor Elwood, a man who has isolated himself after a tragic auto accident. The women converge when Melody suspects Elwood has disappeared.
This story twists and turns in unique ways, from the arrival of a nephew Melanie never knew existed, to a dark chapter in Eva's past. Each story wraps up in a way that rewards each character. I expected more of a novel detailing HUAC and the effects of the Blacklist ; instead the novel is more of a celebration of female friendship (although that friendship evolves from a macabre situation.) A Map to Paradise is a unique glimpse into how getting what you want may produce desperate consequences, but through perseverance one can find a happy ending.