From his description of the opening of the great west as “…giving way to the high, lonely deserts west of Exodus and east of John,” I’m hooked, impressed, envious.

Beginning in the dining car of the Golden State Limited in September 1938, we follow Eve to the elegant rooms of the Beverly Hills Hotel, the fabled tables of Antonio’s, the amusement parks on the Santa Monica piers, the afro-Cuban dance clubs of Central Avenue, and ultimately the set of Gone with The Wind.It was the sole instance of Eve acknowledging, even if only obliquely, the complexity—and the complicity—of our secret, long-standing relationship. I really loved the debut novel Rules of Civility, so I was delighted to find this book of six linked stories, which looks at what happened to character Evelyn Ross after she left New York.

It not only removes some Spoilers, but it also provides side references that will cause the “knowing” among us to smile. Six months later, she appears in a photograph in a gossip magazine exiting the Tropicana Club in Los Angeles on the arm of Olivia de Havilland. In this collection of short stories, Towles follows Eve from his novel Rules of Civility to Hollywood, and offers a glimpse into the life she created for herself post-1938. And to Paul Butterfield over yonder's wall, a har­monica lays playing and it must be greener than here, I've always thought. This is a very quick read of six short tales centering around my favorite character from RULES OF CIVILITY.Really, though, and in fact, the ending for Eve was ambiguously ever after, those gardenias sometimes blowing rancid, sometimes sweet.