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Martin Turnbull

Goodreads Author

Born

Australia

Website

http://www.MartinTurnbull.com

Twitter

turnbullmartin

Genre

Historical Fiction

Member Since

January 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/martin_turnbull

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Martin Turnbull has worked as a private tour guide showing both locals and out-of-towners the movie studios, Beverly Hills mansions, Hollywood hills vistas and where all the bodies are buried. For nine years, he has also volunteered as an historical walking tour docent with the Los Angeles Conservancy. He worked for a summer as a guide at the Warner Bros. movie studios in Burbank showing movie fans through the sound stages where Bogie and Bacall, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and James Cagney created some of Hollywood’s classic motion pictures.

From an early age, Martin was enchanted with old movies from Hollywood’s golden era–from the dawn of the talkies in the late 1920s to the dusk of the studio system in the late 1950s–and has spent many, ma ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Hi Martin, I really loved the Garden of Allah series. But why did you stop at Book 9? Do you have any plans to write any more in the series? (covering the time periods for the death of Marilyn Monroe and the assassination of Kennedy, for example). Would love to read more. Thanks

Martin Turnbull Hi Ian, and thanks for your question. My plan with the Garden of Allah series was always to tell the story of life at the hotel, and by extension life…moreHi Ian, and thanks for your question. My plan with the Garden of Allah series was always to tell the story of life at the hotel, and by extension life during studio-era Hollywood from its opening party in January 1927 to its closing party in 1959. To my way of thinking, the Garden's life exactly paralleled Hollywood's golden years, starting with "The Jazz Singer" ushering in the talkies in 1927, and closing with "Ben-Hur" in 1959, which in my view was the last of the great studio-era Hollywood blockbusters. By 1960, both the golden era and the hotel were history. So it seemed to me to be a way to tell the history of the golden era of Hollywood - through the eyes of the people who lived in a place that exactly matched it, year for year.

Also, by the time I released "Closing Credits," I had been writing about Marcus, Kathryn, and Gwendolyn for over 10 years, and I felt it was time to retire them and move onto fresh projects and different characters with whom we could explore this endlessly fascinating era.(less)

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Have you had any surviving family members take issue with your portrayal of some of the Hollywood legends in your books?

Martin Turnbull No, Beth, I haven't. I've taken great care to portray those people in a true light, so I don't bring up anything that they didn't bring up in their ow…moreNo, Beth, I haven't. I've taken great care to portray those people in a true light, so I don't bring up anything that they didn't bring up in their own autobiographies, or which is discussed in a reputable source, like a scholarly biography or, perhaps, events that were well documented at the time, say, in the press. In conversations with fictional characters or in fictional situations, I try as much as I can to present that character in line with their public persona. I have no interest in turning any of these people into villains...unless of course they actually got up to such mischief in real life! Thanks for your question!(less)

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Martin Turnbull’s books

Average rating: 4.19 · 7,604 ratings · 948 reviews · 24 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Garden on Sunset (Hollywood's Garden of Allah #1) 3.74 avg rating — 2,607 ratings — published 2011 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Trouble with Scarlett: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood's Garden of Allah #2) 4.26 avg rating — 761 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Citizen Hollywood: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood's Garden of Allah #3) 4.37 avg rating — 576 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Searchlights and Shadows: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood's Garden of Allah, #4) 4.39 avg rating — 481 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reds in the Beds (Hollywood's Garden of Allah, #5) 4.42 avg rating — 395 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Twisted Boulevard: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood's Garden of Allah, #6) 4.43 avg rating — 376 ratings — published 2016 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tinseltown Confidential: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood's Garden of Allah, #7) 4.42 avg rating — 358 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Closing Credits (Hollywood's Garden of Allah #9) 4.66 avg rating — 312 ratings — published 2018 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of Myths: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood's Garden of Allah #8) 4.55 avg rating — 313 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All the Gin Joints: A novel of World War II Hollywood (Hollywood Home Front trilogy Book 1) 4.53 avg rating — 240 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Martin Turnbull

Hollywood's Garden of Allah (9 books)
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Martin Turnbull (Goodreads Author)

4.14 avg rating — 6,315 ratings

The Hollywood Home Front Trilogy (3 books)
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Martin Turnbull (Goodreads Author)

4.57 avg rating — 560 ratings

Hollywood's Greatest Year (2 books)
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Martin Turnbull (Goodreads Author)

4.30 avg rating — 254 ratings

Martin is Currently Reading

Martin Turnbull is currently reading

PROOF: You Must Remember This: A novel of World War II Hollywood

by Martin Turnbull (Goodreads Author)

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Martin Turnbull rated a book really liked it Talking to Heaven: A Medium's Message of Life After Death by James Van Praagh	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 16, 2026 09:14PM · 2 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Talking to Heaven by James Van Praagh. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Talking to Heaven by James Van Praagh <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Martin Turnbull made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Combining kindle and paperback edition topic " I believe this is the place in which I can request for the kindle and paperback versions of my new book to be combined. Thanks for your help! https://ww ...more "
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Martin Turnbull has read The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1) by Ken Follett (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 02, 2026 09:22PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Martin Turnbull rated a book liked it Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 12, 2025 08:11PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Martin Turnbull (?)

“True friends must be honest with each other. If you are not honest about who you are, how can you expect anyone to love you.”
― Martin Turnbull, The Garden on Sunset

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“There was a line in which Rick Blaine complained that of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Ingrid Bergman had to walk into his. Luke had told him, “You can do a lot with a line like that.”
― Martin Turnbull, All the Gin Joints: A novel of World War II Hollywood

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“He threw his arms out wide. “Ladies and gentlemen, we owe it to ourselves, our loved ones, in fact we owe it to everyone we encounter to offer up our best, because that final time will come along sooner than we expect, and much, much sooner than we’d like.”
― Martin Turnbull, The Heart of the Lion: A Novel of Irving Thalberg's Hollywood

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