Author: Renee Rosen
Series: None
Publication Date: April 20, 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 368
Obtained: Great Thoughts, Great Readers Book Salon
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: An interesting look at a woman who was ahead of her time
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
Summary: New York City is filled with opportunities for single girls like Alice Weiss, who leaves her small midwestern town to chase her big-city dreams and unexpectedly lands the job of a lifetime working for the first female editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, Helen Gurley Brown. Nothing could have prepared Alice for the world she enters as editors and writers resign on the spot, refusing to work for the woman who wrote the scandalous bestseller Sex and the Single Girl, and confidential memos, article ideas, and cover designs keep finding their way into the wrong hands. When someone tries to pull Alice into a scheme to sabotage her boss, she is more determined than ever to help Helen succeed. While pressure mounts at the magazine and Alice struggles to make her way in New York, she quickly learns that in Helen Gurley Brown's world, a woman can demand to have it all. ~amazon.com
Review: Coming into this book I didn’t know much about Helen Gurley Brown’s start at Cosmopolitan. I can tell you that in my house growing up it was a bit too racy and I wasn’t allowed to throw it in grocery cart. 😉 As an adult it wasn't really on my radar either. Having said that I do love reading about women who break the mold and become successful in-spite of people trying to hold them down. That's exactly what Ms. Brown does and did well for decades.
Alice was the perfect narrator for this novel. She's come to New York because that's where she feels she can pursue her photography and well her dad got remarried. She gets a job as Helen Gurley Brown's secretary and very quickly becomes protective of her and what she's trying to accomplish. She quickly learns the joys of corporate working when she's asked to spy on Helen for Hearst.
There is much correlation between the growing pains that Cosmopolitan is going through and Alice's own growing up. She learns much about herself, what she wants and how she wants to get it in the time she spends with Helen.
Lovers of A Devil Wears Prada will thoroughly enjoy this novel.
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