num_pages: 560
description: "Dinah Lasker grew up in the shadow of her sister, Veevi, a stunning beauty and emerging star who enchanted both the Hollywood set and its imported New York literati. But thanks to her marriage to Stefan Ventura, a Bulgarian filmmaker and high-profile Communist, Veevi's home was also a hotbed of political activity. At the end of the 1930s, when things went badly for him in Hollywood, Ventura and Veevi fled to Paris and into the lengthening shadows of Hitler and fascism." Cut to 1951, when Dinah is subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, which threatens to ruin her husband, Jake, and derail his successful career as a Hollywood writer, producer, and director unless she cooperates. Can Dinah live with herself if she names Veevi - whom she both loves and loathes - in order to save her husband and preserve her idyllic married life? The choices Dinah makes set in motion an unforgettable chain of events. Like Anna Karenina, Dinah must face the consequences of her choices and her needs.
language: English
title: Cheat and Charmer
titlecomplete: Cheat and Charmer
genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 251
publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks