Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen: A Book Review

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl

Author: Renee Rosen

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: 2023

Pages: 432

Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm, in this dazzling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Social Graces and Park Avenue Summer.

In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least that’s what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal. She’s ready for a total life makeover and a friend she can lean on—and into her path walks a young, idealistic woman named Estée. Their chance encounter will change Gloria’s life forever.

Estée dreams of success and becoming a household name like Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Revlon. Before Gloria knows it, she is swept up in her new friend’s mission and while Estée rolls up her sleeves, Gloria begins to discover her own talents. After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York’s finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, which proves instrumental in opening doors for Estée’s insatiable ambitions.

But in a world unaccustomed to women with power, they’ll each have to pay the price that comes with daring to live life on their own terms and refusing to back down.

My Review: Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl tells the story of Estée Lauder from the perspective of her fictional best friend, Gloria Downing. Gloria Downing is the daughter of a criminal. In order to not be recognized, she changes her appearance and gets a job as a shampoo girl. She meets Estée Lauder who sells skin care products in the hair salon’s side shop. These two women embark on a lifelong friendship. Gloria becomes a glamorous shopgirl. Estée becomes a successful businesswoman and celebrity.

I found Gloria a hard character to like. Gloria is from high society. However, Gloria struggles through poverty because of her father’s crime. She often looks down upon others and is very judgmental. I also found her to be very selfish. She is also very guarded and does not trust people very easily because of her heartbreak. Nevertheless, she did grow on me as a character towards the end. However, she was a very frustrating character throughout most of the novel.

Overall, this novel is about friendship, ambition, and dreams. The message of this book is to never give up your dreams no matter the obstacles. I really liked all of the characters. I love Gloria’s friendship with Estée Lauder, and I wished the novel was told from Estée Lauder’s perspective rather than Gloria. Estée Lauder was a hardworking woman who never gave up her ambitions even when it seemed futile. I also loved her romance with her husband, Joe. They had a caring and loving marriage. Therefore, I think that it should have been narrated by Estée Lauder instead of Gloria. Still, Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl is a very light and entertaining read! There is a lot of glamor and some celebrities like Helena Rubinstein are in this book. Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl is a must read if you like reading about fashion. I recommend this for fans of By Her own Design, Mademoiselle Chanel, and A Dress of Violet Taffeta!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

No Stone Unturned (Lucy Lawrence Mystery #1) by Pam Lecky: A Book Review

No Stone Unturned (Lucy Lawrence Mystery #1) Author: Pam Lecky Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Suspense Publisher: Storm Publishing Book Release Date: 2024 Pages: 356 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Lucy Lawrence stared down at her husband, his once handsome face now a twisted mask of death. She shivered and pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders. His life had held so many secrets, and now his sins were hers to bear… England, 1886. In the flickering gaslights of Victorian London, 28-year-old Lucy Lawrence's future hangs in the balance. Her husband's murder has left her reputation in tatters, and the theft of her mother's priceless heirloom pearls has only added to her woes. But when the handsome investigator Phineas Stone enters her life, Lucy finds herself drawn into a web of deceit that leads right back to her marriage and a deadly conspiracy that could undo them all. ...

Guest Post by Aleksey Linetskiy: The Women Behind the Klondike Story

Today's guest writer is Aleksey Linetskiy. He is the co-author of Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , which is a unique yearly subscription in which the reader reads a story by mail. In this guest post, he introduces us to a few historical women of the Klondike era. Some of these women are Alice Freeman, Flora Shaw, and Helen Dare. Thank you, Mr. Linetskiy! The Women Behind the Klondike Story Before we began writing Finch and Hawk: The Klondike Letters , my partner, Alona Umansky, and I spent a great deal of time researching the Klondike Gold Rush. We were interested in finding the stories of people who maybe didn’t become rich and famous but still went through the experience of a great stampede. As we were reading the newspapers of the time and firsthand accounts, it became very clear to us that we wanted to tell at least part of the story through the women’s eyes. There were so many incredible women who underto...

Interview With Carolyn Marie Wilkins

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing, Ms. Carolyn Marie Wilkins. She is the author of the Psychics and Soul Food Mystery series. Her first novel, The Murder at the Wham Bam Club , features a psychic named Nola Jackson as an amateur sleuth. Her sequel, Let the Murderer Say Amen , has just recently been released. In this interview, we discussed her inspiration that led her to writing Let the Murderer Say Amen . We also discussed why she decided for Nola to have psychic abilities as well as her love for the mystery genre. Thank you, Ms. Wilkins! (Photo Credit: Sally Cooper) What inspired you to write the Psychics and Soul Food Mystery series? I am a practicing psychic medium. I talk to the dead, read Tarot cards and attend seances, so this book was a natural for me. I also love reading and writing about African American history. And of course, I love Soul Food. Writing this series gives me the chance to combine several of my ...

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Search This Blog