About The It Girls
Paperback: 384 pagesPublisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 24, 2017)
Source: This book was given to me by TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling author Karen Harper comes a novel based on the lives of two amazing sisters . . .
One sailed the Titanic and started a fashion empire . . .
The other overtook Hollywood and scandalized the world . . .
Together, they were unstoppable.
They rose from genteel poverty, two beautiful sisters, ambitious, witty, seductive. Elinor and Lucy Sutherland are at once each other’s fiercest supporters and most vicious critics.
Lucy transformed herself into Lucile, the daring fashion designer who revolutionized the industry with her flirtatious gowns and brazen self-promotion. And when she married Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon her life seemed to be a fairy tale. But success came at many costs—to her marriage and to her children . . . and then came the fateful night of April 14, 1912 and the scandal that followed.
Elinor’s novels titillate readers, and it’s even asked in polite drawing rooms if you would like to “sin with Elinor Glyn?” Her work pushes the boundaries of what’s acceptable; her foray into the glittering new world of Hollywood turns her into a world-wide phenomenon. But although she writes of passion, the true love she longs for eludes her.
But despite quarrels and misunderstandings, distance and destiny, there is no bond stronger than that of the two sisters—confidants, friends, rivals and the two “It Girls” of their day.
My Review: The It Girls tells the story of two sisters, Nellie and Lucy, who were the fashionable girls of their day. Nellie becomes a famous author and Lucy is a successful fashion designer. One of the girls penned the famous classic, Three Weeks, and the other survived the Titanic. This novel follows their successes and their trials. Mostly, it explores their sisterly bond that spanned for decades.
Both Lucy and Nellie are very sympathetic characters. They are both idealistic, romantic, and ambitious. Even though they came from poverty and experienced a series of hardships, they were still full of determination. Because of their persistence, they were able to pull off their dreams. Thus, I admire these characters’ willpower. However, these characters still felt flat for me. They were sometimes jealous and cruel to each other. They also seemed very alike and it was hard for me to distinguish the sisters except through their occupation. Therefore, I thought that they needed more character development to make them more unique.
Overall, this book is about betrayal, first love, and sisterhood. The message of this book is to fulfill your dreams. I thought that the characters were flat. The supporting characters had little depth. The story seemed to be very rushed. It never really explores Nellie and Lucy’s relationships. The novel had many time jumps in order to get to the main details of the sisters. Because of the time jumps, it left me confused, and I had to reread multiple paragraphs to get a better understanding of their situations. Thus, I would have liked if the book had smoother transitions. I also thought that the writing was choppy. There was also much more dialogue than description in the novel. Because of this, I think it would have been better as a screenplay. Despite the novel’s flaws, it was still very enjoyable. I had never heard of these girls before, and they seem to have a dramatic lifestyle. Thus, I recommend The It Girls to fans of The Girl Who Came Home, Stars Over Sunset Boulevard, and A Certain Age.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Purchase Links
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About Karen Harper
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author KAREN HARPER is a former Ohio State University instructor and high school English teacher. Published since 1982, she writes contemporary suspense and historical novels about real British women. Two of her recent Tudor-era books were bestsellers in the UK and Russia. Harper won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for Dark Angel, and her novel Shattered Secrets was judged one of the best books of the year by Suspense Magazine.
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