Pausing Page

Hollywood screenwriter uncovers betrayals and divided loyalties in fin-de-siècle France and post-war Hollywood.

“Pausing For a Backward Glance,” by Jack Salem, is a fictional account of a 1950s screenwriter whose personal life in America mirrors her shocking discoveries in France.

In a story of intrigue and suspicion, ruined lives and relationships, Jack Salem’s new work of historical fiction, “Pausing For a Backward Glance,” juxtaposes two seminal events – the devastating effect the Dreyfus Affaire had on the crown jewels of French culture, and the House Un-American Activities Committee’s hearings on post-war Hollywood.

Set in the summer of 1950, we find Sally Apple, a spirited young screenwriter with a new assignment from her Hollywood boss: go to Paris to research and write a movie about the anti-Semitic French Colonel who rose to the defense of Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish artillery officer falsely accused of treason and imprisoned despite proof of his innocence.

From Proust to Monét, Renoir to Debussy, some of the most famous characters and artists of late 19th century France are brought to vivid life as Sally immerses herself in a political scandal that divided a nation and challenged its very foundations. But history not only repeats itself, it becomes achingly personal when Sally returns and testifies before The House on Un-American Activities Committee. A story of the political made personal, of honor, betrayal and the sometimes gray area between the two, “Pausing For a Backward Glance” is a view of the past that lends focus to the present.

by Dr. Wesley Britton, Professor of English at Harrisburg Area Community College, author, and co-host of online radio’s Dave White Presents. The complete review originally appeared at BookPleasures.com.

Pausing For A Backward Glance [is]….a literary scaffold which allows author Jack Salem to present a panorama of perspectives on the role of artists and art in the ethical and political spheres of both 19th century France and Hollywood during the 1950s.

….the stage is Paris where screenwriter Sally Apple….immerses herself in the biographies of French writers, composers and artists who reflect from the grave on what the Dreyfus Affair meant to them––Debussy, Grieg, Rodin, Monet, Zola, Proust among others. ….they wonder how their art should be judged when their views on Jews become known––do esthetics trump unsavory prejudices?

[Upon returning to Hollywood]….she and others are immediately embroiled in hearings by the House Un-American Activities Committee looking to find communist influences in the movie industry….[while]….they try to clarify the idealism of liberals who…want improved conditions for African Americans and others as juxtaposed against those with the same goals but with a….Red Bent. [We learn of]….the deeper contexts of the issues, the changing ethos….and the nuances of complex philosophies.

The book is her journey, one that includes an advanced education with a unique university of professors––and so too the reader, especially readers willing to digest a book slowly and do some pausing of their own along the way.

I very much enjoyed the ride.