Brought up in a staunchly Methodist household, Evelyn has never been glamorous. Luckily whilst her mother was alive Evelyn was able to use her ear for languages and has become fluent in nine of them, including esperanto. However she was trapped with her austere widowed father and then in a stultifying marriage to dentist Silas. When Silas is killed in action Evelyn gets a job working for the postal censor but her ear for languages sees her plucked from obscurity to head to Hollywood to assist maverick director Zandor Kiss. Here Evelyn is a fish out of water in a technicolour dreamworld.

The premise of this book is great, the idea of the contrast between dreary wartime Britain and sunny California is the extended metaphor hinted at in the title. Austere Britain is in monochrome, Hollywood in glorious technicolour and Evelyn is not in 'Kansas' anymore. Indeed the first part of the book is terrific, cliched maybe but Evelyn's culture shock and make-over are handled with a lightness of touch and a sly sense of humour. My issue is that the last half of the book seemed somewhat ponderous in comparison. The recurring motif of Japanese gardeners was never explored and, a bit like Evelyn's role, the story never seemed to have a real purpose to it.

I was drawn to the book initially by its gorgeous cover and found the story inside just as glamorous and opulent. The level of historical detail is fantastic as is the portrayal of 1940s Hollywood in all its insane, self-absorbed glory. The main character Evelyn exchanges her dull life in London for glamour and espionage in LA after she is offered the chance to assist in the war effort by persuading a producer to promote war propaganda in his films, however her new boss is AWOL and instead she meets a wide array of characters and gets a glimpse into how the other half live. A beautifully written piece of Hollywood escapism.

As frothy as a gin fizz but sadly has about the same substance. It's all very charming and glamorous - makeovers, parties, cocktails, and flirting with charming cads, all set against a backdrop of old Hollywood, but somewhere around the 70% mark I realised nothing was going to happen. I literally just finished reading it but if someone asked me what it's about I couldn't tell them, because it's not really about anything. I know a lack of plot is a badge of honour for some literary fiction but I'm afraid it's never cut the mustard for me.

And as a sidenote, you know sometimes when you're reading a book written in the first half of the twentieth-century and the casual racism makes you wince, and you have to tell yourself it's a product of its time? Well this is like that but without the excuse of being a product of its time. It's all 'cartoonishly large eyed negroes', 'lazy Japs' and 'dagos'. I suppose you might want to sprinkle a few of those into the dialogue to give a sense of time and place, but it's unforgivable to pepper them throughout the third person narration in this day and age.

This is a light hearted and breezy piece of historical fiction featuring a fish out of water Evelyn Murdoch, set in 1940, in the often ridiculous and glitzy world of LA's Hollywo0d. Recently widowed Evelyn from Woking in Surrey has been plucked from her uninspiring civil service job to work with Colonel Peyton in LA, reporting back on German/Nazi spies and the American outlook on WW2 raging in Europe. Her husband, Silas, was a dentist who has been killed in the war, her best friend, Deborah, married Gilbert, Silas's brother. Evelyn recounts a rather grim stultifying marriage with Silas, a man obsessed with wanting children, when she did not, leaving her feeling not that griefstricken. Her hitherto drab, colourless life, including her growing up years with a Methodist father, ill prepares her for the opulent and glamorous lifestyle with new clothes and hairstyle that is required for her to fit into her new milieu. Selected for her linguistic gifts, she can speak 9 languages, she discovers in New York HQ that they were expecting a man, and that Colonel Peyton has travelled to Bermuda, leaving her floundering.

Evelyn arrives in California, housed in Pasadena with the odd Japanese gardener Mr Hashimoto, and feeling lost and isolated, unsure of exactly what is expected of her, with various business cards such as those that proclaim her as a special consultant and expert in voice culture. Thrust amidst script meetings, she meets aspiring novelists and screenwriters, jostling to find a role in the growing film industry. Zandor Kiss's efforts to highlight German and Nazi actions in Europe in his films are stymied by the America First movement and the Senate Committee, intent on ensuring the US does not get pulled into another war. There are numerous characters that enter Evelyn's life, from German spies suspicious of her, to Hollywood film stars, including child actors engaged in filming War of the Worlds and butchering the classic in true Hollywood style. Parties, Dinners out, rescuing arrested stars and more, begin to shape a different Evelyn, but threats from her past may force her to revert to the old Evelyn, a miserable fate she fears as romance beckons.

This is not historical fiction that is intended to be hard hitting about WW2, it does though give us a glimpse into just how adamant parts of the US were in avoiding entry into the war, refusing to acknowledge what was happening in Europe and the power of Germans to lobby for their perspective, and downplay their brutality. Louise Levene writes with humour and wit, making this a fun and entertaining read. There is satire in her depiction of the bizarre and strange world of Hollywood, the glamorous film stars and the larger than life big hitters in the movie business. If you are looking for a frothy light glimpse into Hollywood's past, seen through the character of the wide eyed Evelyn at a historically crucial time in history, then this is a book for you. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC.

A dazzling piece of historical fiction! And that cover is GORGEOUS.

Happy Little Bluebirds is the perfect book to pick up at this time if year. I sometimes find historical fiction books to be quite heavy but this book is just wonderful. I highly recommend it.

A lighthearted, era novel which will take you to 40'ies Hollywood. The title goes really well for this book. It's an ideal Spring/Summer read, could have been a bit shorter but a good read afterall.

Sparkling wit abounds in this picture of Hollywood during the war. I got a little lost in the middle as to characters and plot, which may have been me, but I did laugh out loud at various points and enjoyed the whole idea of the plot and the back story of grim life in England, being married - albeit briefly - to a man who sounded, quite simply, appalling.

Thanks Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and netgalley for this ARC.

Happy, Happy, this book will make you! Loved the whimsical, crazy, spy daze. Hollywood from a fresh perspective.

A light and fun read about life in Hollywood during the 1940s. The whims of the stars, where every wish is met immediately were amusing to read about- a vegetable garden planted with fully grown shop bought veg! The falseness and fakery of the whole lifestyle as opposed to that being experienced in Europe was highlighted well. I found this book to be thoroughly enjoyable and easy to read, whilst it does lack a little depth, it certainly kept me entertained. Even the Hollywood Nazi spies were amusing and not particularly threatening! As most WW2 books tend to focus on the conflict itself, it was interesting to read about and consider how America was reacting prior to Pearl Harbour. Censorship of anything that might be pro-Britain and could upset the Germans was surprising and is based on fact, as explained in the author’s notes. (A little known fact which was buried after the attack at Pearl Harbour.) Overall, light and entertaining, ‘Happy Little Bluebirds’ is also very interesting and the behaviour of Hollywood during this period is fascinating. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

This is lighter and fluffier than I expected given the war-time setting - I guess I was expecting more wit, and something sharper than is here - this is more Hollywood rom-com. The historical details around the studios during the war are interesting but the story took longer to get going than I'd have liked, and there are some old cliches brought out about staid English women versus slicker Americans which is a bit tired. A fun read, all the same - I guess I thought there would be more substance than there is.