In July 1921, burlesque dancers Irene Van Beck and Millie Martin, and the burlesque comedian Henry Weiss jump off a moving train as their first step of escaping the clutches of their burlesque show boss and making their way to Hollywood for their chance at hitting it big in Tinseltown. Having barely survived life in a burlesque, making no money, getting little food, and risking beatings from the boss, on the scalp, to prevent bruises showing on their bodies while stripping, Irene and Millie had no where further down to go than to become prostitutes. Irene was going to leave by herself but Millie reminded her of her late sister so she was taking her with her and this was their chance to escape the horrid life they were living. Henry realized they were getting ready to jump off the train and followed them since he considered them his only friends. Together this trio becomes a "family" of sorts, looking out for each other and sharing whatever they had, in a chance for them to all survive and thrive in Hollywood. With the town overflowing with other hopefuls ready to do anything for a job or any kind of break, they face a life of continued poverty and rejection. A person has to stand out in Hollywood to get anywhere and even then there are hundreds more standing in line behind you if you make a misstep. I enjoyed reading how this trio used their looks, imagination, and wits to finagle jobs and later better living quarters, as they worked their way into writing for or acting in silent pictures. I liked the characters of Irene, Millie, and Henry and especially liked their loyalty to each other, not allowing one to continue to suffer when another of them began earning money and the security of a job. That security could change in a second though due to prejudges so prevalent in that time. I grew up watching black and white old westerns, some barely into the talkie stage and have probably seen most of them that were on TV over the decades. There is so much history of early movie making, during the time that silent movies were on the verge of becoming talking movies and this book name drops so many names that I remember reading about over the years. Each chapter starts with a quote from famous Hollywood names and I could probably read a book of just quotes and enjoy it, but in this book we get to learn what is behind the quotes, how things really were, under the fake glamour and glitz of the silver screen. Thank you Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and NetGalley for this ARC.