Missing Reels
A Novel
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
New York in the late 1980s. Ceinwen Reilly has just moved from Yazoo City, Mississippi, and she’s never going back, minimum wage job (vintage store salesgirl) and shabby apartment (Avenue C walkup) be damned. Who cares about earthly matters when Ceinwen can spend her days and her nights at fading movie houses—and most of the time that’s left trying to look like Jean Harlow? One day, Ceinwen discovers that her downstairs neighbor may have—just possibly—starred in a forgotten silent film that hasn’t been seen for ages. So naturally, it’s time for a quest. She will track down the film, she will impress her neighbor, and she will become a part of movie history: the archivist as ingénue. As she embarks on her grand mission, Ceinwen meets a somewhat bumbling, very charming, 100% English math professor named Matthew, who is as rational as she is dreamy. Together, they will or will not discover the missing reels, will or will not fall in love, and will or will not encounter the obsessives that make up the New York silent film nut underworld. A novel as winning and energetic as the grand Hollywood films that inspired it, Missing Reels is an irresistible, alchemical mix of Nora Ephron and David Nicholls that will charm and delight.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Film writer Nehme harnesses her talents and expansive knowledge of film in her debut novel. Set in 1980s New York City, the novel follows young Ceinwen Reilly, who is working in a vintage clothing store, dressing like a '40s film star, and obsessing over older films. While on the job, she encounters the affable Matthew, an Englishman and professor of mathematics at NYU. He introduces her to the quirky yet endearing world of silent film aficianados, and she soon discovers that her neighbor, Miriam Gibson, knew Jean Harlow, and may have had no small part to play in a long-lost silent film. Together, Ceinwen and Matthew navigate the ins and outs of the film buff world, as well as their budding relationship. Nehme snares the reader with dry wit, portraits of film stars of the past, and dynamic, unconventional protagonists. Her film expertise is evident, and may convince readers to seek out films of a bygone era.
