Downriver

The book, Downriver: A Tale of Moving Pictures Before Hollywood is an historical novel set during the early days of cinema. The lead character, Anne Blackstone, is fictional, but women pioneers in the field have "leading roles" as well. Anne enters the field before it becomes a big business, when motion picture language was being written, and when women, even from a lower class, had access to its creative tools. With a cast of strong characters, both real and imaginary, Downriver gives readers the experience of what it was like to be alive at the origins of an industry which is, today, so much a part of our lives.

This look at cinema history has been given new visibility by the recent release of “Be Natural: the Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché,” a feature documentary about the life and work of cinema's first female director, who was also a screenwriter, producer, and studio owner. Alice is one of the major characters in "Downriver."

The site Reader's Favorite calls the book “a gripping story that explores the origins of the movie industry with characters that are as memorable as they are realistic.” Diana MacIntyre of The Silents Majority says "It brings together women of the cinema who paths may not have crossed-but should have. I love this book because I love the movies and the history of this era. The layer over layer of stories, movie history... Downriver will make it's mark upon your heart! … Let it speak to you... like silent film speaks to you in your inner eye,... like poetry makes you see farther than you have ever seen before."