Book Review: Small in Real Life-Stories by Kelly Sather

Warm, sunny weather, sandy beaches, and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. These may be a few things you conjure up when you think of Southern California. But in Kelly Sather’s award-winning collection of stories, Small in Real Life, she tells tales that show a much more gritty reality of the Golden State. Some of the characters in Small in Real Life work in show business, and others are wannabes drawn to the promise of fame and fortune of Hollywood. And other characters are living lives far from those tired, yet true tropes of California. And all of them are an interesting narrative to tell.

Small in Real Life starts out strong with The Spaniard. Jenny is just about to turn sixteen when she gets sick at school. Nobody is able to reach her parents, so she is given bus fare and goes back home via the RTD. Yes, Los Angeles has public transportation. When Jenny gets home a strange man is there with her mother. Due to this man’s European accent, Jenny deems him The Spaniard. Why is this man in their house? Why is Jenny’s mother being so coy? Is The Spaniard and her mother having an affair? Jenny infers that they are, and she believes she can blackmail her mother into buying her a car for her upcoming 16th birthday, and if not, Jenny will tattle to her father about her mother’s dalliance with The Spaniard. But Jenny’s mother remains unfazed. Will this transgression be the end of Jenny’s parents’ marriage?

Betrayal is also a theme in Handbag Parade. Stephanie and Carol often meet at the home of their mutual friend, Gia. Gia is in the last throes of ALS; her tragic death is imminent. All three of them met early in their careers working low-level jobs at a Hollywood agency. Not one of them became an agent, but Gia found the most success of them all, and now she’s trapped in a frozen body. Stephanie begins to steal Gia’s collection of high end designer hand bags, and thusly, blames Gia’s nurse, Esme, for the thievery, putting Esme’s vocation on the line. Stephanie betrays a friend and bears false witness against an innocent woman. Handbag Parade show truly conveys how friendship can tragically lead to heartbreak and disloyalty.

In God’s Work an LA judge somehow ends up on a date with a failed actress turned make-up artist. The way this judge describes this woman you can tell he thinks she’s beneath him. He speaks disdainfully of her low-cut sweater and clumped up mascara. But is this an actual date or something quite else when the judge makes a startling confession, and somehow thinks him being a judge may be in her favor. But will it?

So many of the stories that make up Small In Real Life are gripping portraying people from all walks of life going through their day to day activities in the Golden State. Some get close to the glittering images Hollywood promises, but never quite grab that brass ring. Others are in the gallows. And then there are those who revel in the underbelly.

Small In Real Life made me think of the Hollywood sign. It looms over the land in large capital letters. It seems to promise fame and fortune and glamour. But closer and you’ll probably see decay, graffiti, and litter strewn about showing the true messiness and disappointment of real life.

Book Review: The Glow by Jessie Gaynor

In Jessie Gaynor’s novel, The Glow, protagonist Jane Dorner is in a funk; her life seems to be going nowhere. Though Jane had aspirations of being a poet, she ended up dropping out of her grad program, and is now working in public relations for a New York City firm. Working in public relations may sound glamorous and lucrative, but Jane can barely care about her work and her output is slipshod at best.

And on top of her less than exciting job, Jane is now without a boyfriend after a break up and due to an emergency surgery, Jane is now drowning in medical debt (something I bet a lot of my fellow Americans can relate to). Jane is trying to hold onto her job so she can pay off her nearly six figure medical debt.

Needing a boost to her career, Jane seeks out something to inspire her so she can publicize it and perhaps save her job. And Jane thinks she’s found the perfect thing when she discovers Fort Path, a wellness retreat. At the helm of Fort Path, is Cass. Cass is beautiful, ethereal, and has a huge following on social media. Her Instagram passages promise wellness, healing, and the ultimate journey of self-fulfillment. Jane is drawn to both Fort Path and Cass, and she believes if she can connect with both of them, she will find not only a higher state of being, she will also amplify her career and keep her job.

Jane makes a sojourn to Fort Path. At first she has a hard time fitting in with the retreat’s strict diet and weird rituals, which includes group masturbation and refraining from showering. But still, Jane can’t help but be drawn to Cass. Cass just radiates self-confidence, wholeness, and true enlightenment. Perhaps if Jane follows Cass and Fort Path’s strict guideline, she, too, will achieve these lofty goals.

Whereas Cass may be the face and inspiration for Fort Path, it is her husband, Tom, who handles the business side of running the retreat. Jane gets closer to Cass and Tom, and often wonders about their marriage, especially since Tom doesn’t exactly seem 100% straight. Is it true love or a marriage of convenience. And once Jane loses her PR job, and finagles her way into a job with Fort Path, she finds out more and more about Cass and Tom’s marriage and the behind the scenes of running Fort Path.

Jane comes up with a plan. She figures with her public relations experience, she feels she can sell Fort Path on a grander scale (even if she herself, isn’t a true believer of Fort Path’s mission and practices). If Jane can put Fort Path on the wellness map and make Cass a major health guru on par with Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop. And to do this, Jane does some rather nefarious and less than savory things that are more about making the big bucks and exploiting Cass, Tom, and Fort Path than actually doing something positive for the the two of them, the retreat, and its clients. Will Jane make Fort Path a health and wellness a huge success and become a huge success herself? Or will everything tumble like a house of Tarot cards?

The Glow is a fascinating look at the rarified world of wellness and the people involved even though some of these people aren’t exactly good people. Sure, Cass and Tom may have an odd marriage. And I’m not a fan of Cass’s dietary and hygienic habits, but for the most part these are two well-meaning characters who are sympathetic.

However, Jane is a walking red flag. Though I empathize with her work and money troubles, I found her behavior towards Cass and Tom, and Fort Path to be appalling. Her exploitation is truly offensive. But I wondered is she truly an awful person or is her behavior due to the huge pressures, challenges, and set backs she has dealt. And I also questioned if our seeking out of enlightenment and a better life via a wellness retreat, a yoga class, or a candle smelling like Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina is a panacea for the true systematic obstacles problems we face in modern society. The Glow prompts us to think a bit about those things.

Book Review: Wolf Catcher by Anne Montgomery

Anne Montgomery, whose book Wild Horses on the Salt I reviewed in late 2020, is back with her latest novel, Wolf Catcher. And it’s quite the adventure.

In 1939, archeologists discovered something spectacular and mysterious in a place called Ridge Ruin in Arizona. They found a long-deceased man from centuries ago. This ancient man was outfitted in turquoise and beaded jewelry. He was also surrounded by intricately-carved swords made of wood. Some of those on this archeological dig, the Hopi workers, just knew these swords meant something. This ancient man was a magician. Yet, something about this man was different. After close examination, it appeared that this magician had European features and physical build. How could this be? Europeans hadn’t discovered the North American continent until several centuries later, right?

Back in the 12th century, an active volcano altered the landscape causing the local residents to move away and find a new home with different tribal members. Some of the new members were able to fit it, but others, alas, weren’t so fortunate.

Now let’s fast forward to the modern day. Meet Kate Butler. Kate used to work as a television reporter but that career is in the past. Now she is working as a freelance journalist using her well-honed investigative skills and experience to write articles. Kate finds out about this man, this magician, and learning he was quite different from a majority of the people who lived in the area at the time, she knew she must know more about him. Adventure awaits…and danger. Poachers are now ransacking this ancient ruin and trying to sell its antiquities on the black market.

Kate is not daunted. She is fearless. And she must get the story behind the story. Who is this mysterious man of a bygone time discovered in 1939? Where did he come from? Why was he so different from the others? And was he welcomed into the local tribe? It appears so.

But Wolf Catcher is not just a story about Kate and her fellow adventurers who guide and help her along this trek. Wolf Catcher also goes back in time to the 12th century, where we learn more about the Magician, and those who make up his world, especially a young woman named Kaya who was welcomed into the tribe, and now acts as a healer offering her loving and knowledgeable act of wellness to the tribe. When she meets the Magician she can’t help but be drawn to him. The Magician is so different that the rest of the tribe, much do to his physicality. And in kind, he is drawn to her. Together they learn from each other, and share their well-honed wisdom. And slowly, but surely, we learn more about The Magician and how he ended up at Ridge Ruin living amongst the tribe.

In the modern day, Kate is learning so much about this mysterious man and the world that surrounded him. She also makes the quick realization that some nefarious activity is going on when it comes to the antiquities that have been discovered through the archeological dig from the thirties. And soon she’s going to find out that someone she knows is involved with these sleazy shenanigans. Is her life in danger? Will she make it out alive to tell the story of the Magician?

Wolf Catcher seamlessly weaves the story of the Magician and Kate Butler going back and forth from the 12th century to today. There are a lot of twists, turns, and suspenseful moments, and also a lot of surprises. The Magician is one quite compelling fellow, and both Kate and Kaya are fully-dimensional women characters. Plus, there is so much to learn in this book. Montgomery clearly put her reporting skills to work, and thoroughly did her research to give us such a compelling book. If you want to be educated as well as entertained, I highly recommend Wolf Catcher.

I Read It So You Don’t Have To: Rebecca, Not Becky by Christine Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene

The novel, Rebecca, Not Becky by Christine Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene is the tale of two Millennial age women, one white and one Black, as they navigate raising children, taking care of elderly relatives, managing their marriages, and dealing with the thorny topic of race, bigotry, and race relations.

Meet De’Andrea Whitman. She just left her successful career as a lawyer, and not by chance, and is now settled in Rolling Hills, Virginia with her husband Malik and their little girl, Nina. The Whitmans have moved to Rolling Hills to be closer to Malik’s mother who has dementia and is living in a care facility called Memory Village. The Whitmans used to live in Atlanta and found a sense of place within the Black community. De’Andrea stays in touch with her old Atlanta friends and doesn’t know if she can find a home in the very white Rolling Hills.

Now meet Rebecca Myland. She used to go by Becky, but with the name Becky being used as a euphemism for clueless basic white bitches. Rebecca is a stay at home mom who lives with her husband Todd and their two daughters Lyla and Isabella in Rolling Hills. And like De’Andrea, she also has a mother in law at Memory Village.

Rebecca is thrilled when she finds out a Black family has moved to Rolling Hills. She hopes to befriend the Whitmans, which will allow her to use all the knowledge she has gained when it comes to race as a diversity leader at her daughters’ school and as a member of an anti-racist book club. And it does come across like Rebecca might treat this black family as an experiment instead of seeming them as unique individuals.

De’Andrea is feeling adrift and depressed in Rolling Hills. She’s dealing with the heavy burden of running a household, raising Nina, and being there for Malike’s mother. De’Andrea feels useless without her law career and she misses her friends in Atlanta. Is she going to find a sense of community in the white bread enclave of Rolling Hills?

De’Andrea’s therapist comes up with an assignment. De’Andrea should try to befriend a white woman. Not surprisingly, De’Andrea is a bit apprehensive. She doesn’t want to have a friendship that feels forced. And can she really fit in with the privileged white ladies of Rolling HIlls?

But then De’Andrea’s daughter Nina becomes besties with Rebecca’s daughter Isabella. The two little girls have bonded in their kindergarten class. This means De’Andrea has to deal with Rebecca at school drop offs and pick ups, various school functions, and at play dates for Nina and Isabella.

At first, De’Andrea tries to keep Rebecca at arms length. But begrudgingly, she begins to get involved with some of Rebecca’s social activities and social circle. Rebecca can be a bit too much when it comes to being the “white savior.” And to be honest, De’Andrea comes a across as a bit stand-offish and narrowminded. But at times, it is quite understandable why she would question the motives of a privileged white woman like Rebecca.

But De’Andrea and Rebecca soon bond over similar life experiences. Both are dealing with raising children and elder care issues. Both are trying to keep their marriages strong. And both are trying to navigate the racial and social issues that affect Rolling Hills.

Then De’Andrea and Rebecca join forces to bring down a Confederate soldier’s statue in Rolling Hills. A lot of the town’s people also want to bring the offending statue down. But due to a place like Rolling Hills being in the deep South plenty of the town’s citizens want to keep the offensive statue up because or “heritage” or “history” or some rot. De’Andrea and Rebecca learn through all of this that people are stronger when they work together.

Rebecca, Not Becky, in the hands of better writers, could have really been a fantastic read. It covers many of the current issues we face today-race, bigotry, and social changes. It also covers the everyday issues so many women face-raising children, running a household, elder care, and trying to make their marriages thrive. But in the less capable writing talents of Platt and Wigginton Greene, these issues and situations never go very deep. Plus, when Rebecca, Not Becky goes into some intriguing story lines, the writing just putters out. It’s quite disappointing.

And there’s the two main characters, De’Andrea and Rebecca. I don’t expect characters to be flawless, but both ladies are not likable. Both of them come across as conceited and full of themselves. There’s a lot of name-dropping, slang that won’t age well, and vapid texts in place of decent dialogue. It’s as if both of these women were the real housewives of Rolling Hills rather than fully fleshed out characters who are compelling.

Rebecca, Not Becky is not to be read.

Book Review: By Her Own Design-A Novel of Ann Lowe, Fashion Designer to the Social Register by Piper Huguley

There is a reason why so many fashion shows end with a model wearing a wedding dress. Wedding dresses allow designers to delve deeper into using their artistry, creativity, and finely-honed technique into creating something truly beautiful and aspirational.

Whether happily single or someone who got married wearing a Juicy tracksuit, we can’t help but be drawn to wedding dresses. Many wedding dresses worn by famous people are completely iconic. There was Princess Diana’s puff pastry of wedding dress, which defined the over-the-top excess of the 1980s. And Caroline Bessette Kennedy’s spare, figure-hugging slip dress spoke of the 1990s minimalism style. And then there is my favorite famous wedding dress, the one Grace Kelly wore when she went from Hollywood royalty to actual royalty and became Princess Grace of Monaco.

One iconic wedding dress is the one worn by Jacqueline Bouvier when she married then Senator John Kennedy. Though the dress is easily recognizable even to people who are not followers of fashion, the designer of the dress isn’t as well-known. The designer was Ann Lowe, a black woman. Lowe never quite got her due from the press at the time of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy’s nuptial’s. One publication refused to name her, and dismissively called her a “colored dressmaker.” Ann Lowe deserves so much more. And with Piper Huguley’s latest book on Ann Lowe’s life, By Her Own Design: A Novel of Ann Lowe, Fashion Designer to the Social Register, this talented woman is finally getting her flowers.

As By Her Own Design begins, Ann Lowe is facing quite the challenge. A pipe has burst in her New York studio. Jaqueline Bouvier’s dress has been ruined just as she’s about to become Mrs. John Kennedy. Many of the bridesmaids’ dresses have also been damaged. Though completely horrified, Lowe has faced many challenges. She knows she can remake the dresses, and enlists her beloved sister, Sallie, and her friends from a local church to help her repair and make the dresses over in time for the wedding. Lowe will not be deterred. As she begins her work, Lowe muses on her life, and how she got to this point in time.

Ann Lowe grew up in the Jim Crow South. She was raised by her loving mother and grandmother (her father was never really in the picture). Both of these ladies worked as seamstresses. They mentored and taught young Ann on sewing skills and design techniques. But Ann had a God-given talent that went beyond hemming a dress or sewing a button on a blouse. Ann was a creative visionary from the start. She was designing beautifully intricate fabric flowers when she was still in knee-socks.

Despite being smart, industrious, and artistic, Lowe never went far in getting a formal education. She never went to high school. Instead, she married a much older man when she was only twelve (only twelve, yikes), and had her beloved son, Arthur, when she was only sixteen. The marriage was not a happy one. Lowe’s husband was very abusive, and fortunately she was able to escape and get a divorce. She did marry again to a much more suitably aged man when she was a bit older.

Lowe never gave up her dream of designer and creating fashion, and always worked as a seamstress. Her work and talent got noticed, and soon she was designing clothing for upper crust women. She moved to Tampa for a while, where she was quite successful. A very generous benefactor believed so much in Lowe and paid for Lowe to be educated about fashion design at a school in New York City. This was a wonderful opportunity to learn and make connections in the the Big Apple’s fashion industry, but sadly, Lowe faced the same bigotry and racism she dealt with in the South. She was even segregated into a separate room from the white students during the lessons. Still, Lowe was one strong dame, and she made the most of what could have been a very negative situation.

Lowe decided to make her home base and her livelihood in New York. She beautiful designs caught the fancy of the very wealthy and elite becoming a very in demand couturier for the ladies of the Social Register. Even Hollywood movie stars wanted to wear Lowe’s designs. Olivia de Havilland wore one of Lowe’s gorgeous gowns when she accepted and Oscar for her role in “To Each His Own.”

Lowe was soon commissioned to make a dress for one young woman’s debut. That young woman was Jacqueline Bouvier. Lowe grew very fond of Jacqueline, and the two grew close. So it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Jacqueline asked Lowe to design and make her wedding dress. And though Lowe faced some challenges in the end, Jacqueline married Senator Kennedy looking stunning in Lowe’s beautiful creation.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading By Her Own Design. I learned so much about the talented Ann Lowe and why she’s so important in the world of American fashion, and why it’s so upsetting her work has been ignored for far too long. Huguley’s dialogue and story-telling are top notch, and she really gets into the spirit of Anne Lowe (and she brings Jackie Kennedy to life). She makes you cheer for Lowe’s success, and at the same time doesn’t sugar coat the obstacles and tragedies Lowe faced-racism, sexism, domestic abuse, the loss of her loved ones, money troubles, and health woes.

I want more people to know about Ann Lowe and her fashion legacy. Perhaps Netflix could do a movie or limited series on Lowe’s life. I believe By Her Own Design is the perfect springboard to make this happen.

Book Review: Until September by Harker Jones

The staid 1950s are rapidly evolving into the upheaval of the 1960s. Kyle Ryan Quinn is 18 years old. And before he matriculates at Princeton, he’s spending the summer after his senior year in high school at his family’s island vacation home. Kyle’s close friends are also with him. His friends are experimenting with drugs and sex, and those things are opening up, Kyle is holding onto a deep secret. Kyle is gay.

Kyle then meets Jack Averill. Jack is reserved and bookish and beautiful. Kyle is instantly smitten. And when these two privileged young men finally meet, they strike up a quick friendship. They fall in love and their ardor cannot be extinguished.

Kyle and Jack’s love affair is quite passionate and yes, clandestine. They can’t let anyone know about their relationship. Even though people are becoming more open-minded when it comes to sex and sexuality, being gay is still considered something to be ashamed of and hidden.

As Kyle and Jack’s relationship intensifies, they wonder how their friends will react if they find out about the two of them. Kyle’s friends, who he has known since he was a child, have their own issues. One of them impregnates a local girl and convinces her to get an abortion only for this brief interlude to end tragically. And another friends is holding amorous feelings for Kyle.

And then there are Kyle and Jack’s families. How will their parents react if they find out? Kyle’s older brother has recently died and the truth about his relationship with Jack may break his parents’ hearts.

Kyle and Jack are soon found out, and the reaction isn’t positive. And just as soon as Jack has entered Kyle’s life, he disappears. Kyle goes on a mad search seeking out Jack. Will he find him, his true love?

Until September is riveting and written with tenderness and care. You truly feel for Kyle and Jack, and want their love to flourish. Now, I will mention that Until September isn’t written with numbered or titled chapters. Instead, it is written is segments, some several pages long, some only a few paragraphs. At first I found this to be a bit jarring, but after I got into the story it didn’t really matter.

Until September proves that first loves don’t always end in happily ever after, but they are potent, memorable, and shape us forever.

Book Review: A Beautiful Rival-A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden by Gill Paul

It’s no secret that the beauty business is a huge and thriving industry. We pay $100 for the perfect salon blowout. We spend time at spas getting the best facials and massages. We spend a king’s ransom at places like Sephora and Ulta. And getting a mani/pedi is as vital as food, air, and water to some people.

Yet, just a little over a hundred year ago, women focusing on their beauty, getting massages, facials, and other spa and salon treatments seemed overly vain and self-indulgent. And as for cosmetics, well, only ladies of ill-repute rouged their cheeks and painted their lips scarlet.

Two women changed that type of thinking. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein believed beauty was every women’s birthright and a worthy goal to obtain, and little bit of war paint never hurt anyone. Both women were from very humble backgrounds who rose to great heights and grabbed the brass ring of success. They did this through hard work, dedication, clever marketing, and yes, quite a bit of chicanery.

Despite their huge success and being women at time when women were only supposed to fulfill the domestic sphere, Arden and Rubinstein were fierce rivals and bitter enemies. And all of this is fully encapsulated in Gill Paul’s latest book A Beautiful Rival: A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden.

A Beautiful Rival begins in 1915. Elizabeth Arden and her salons dot the New York City landscape and are very popular with high society. Her line of cosmetics and face creams are also quite successful. Women are realizing that focusing one one’s beauty doesn’t make someone shallow. In fact, it is quite necessary in capturing and maintaining a significant other. And wearing lipstick doesn’t mean you’re a dreadful whore. Painting your lips crimson, pink, or coral might even perk you up a bit.

Arden is relishing her success when an interloper arrives on the scene-Helena Rubinstein. Rubinstein has already established successful salons in Australia, London, and Paris. Now she wants to set up shop in the United States, and New York City is the perfect place.

Rubinstein turns out to be a daunting adversary for Arden. There are rumors that Rubinstein was a doctor and her products are “scientifically formulated,” which may give her a bit more credibility that Arden might lack. Rubinstein also becomes quite buddy-buddy with New York City’s smart set. Arden is not happy about this.

Thus begins the rivalry between Arden and Rubinstein. They were determined to out-do each other, and took to great lengths to screw over each other. They did this anyway they could. They send out spies, they stole employees, and spun outrageous stories about themselves and each other for the press.

But as much as Arden and Rubinstein hated each other, they did share some traits and qualities. Both were shrewd, smart, and savvy. Both of them came from less than desirable backgrounds. Though Arden managed to an old-money WASP aesthetic, she actually grew up poor on a farm in Canada. Helen Rubinstein grew up in Poland and was pretty much estranged from her father after she fellow in love with a Gentile. Both women were unlucky in love, and Rubinstein was hardly a devoted mother to her two boys. And with Arden’s disdain of having sex with her first husband, I wondered if she might be a lesbian or asexual.

A Beautiful Rival is told from the point of view of both Arden and Rubinstein in alternating chapters. Not only does this book examine the foibles, triumphs, both professionally and personally these two formidable women dealt with, it also uses history as a backdrop, including the Great Depression and World War II, and how both of these things affected both Arden and Rubinstein.

Though at times Paul had a habit of telling instead of showing throughout A Beautiful Rival, I still found the story of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein quite fascinating. Today it is not uncommon to see successful women in various industries, but women like Arden and Rubinstein was quite uncommon a century ago. A Beautiful Rival gives us a glimpse of what it was like for women to succeed in the cutthroat world of business. Beauty can be quite ugly.

Retro Review: The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe

Before there was such chick lit classics like Valley of the Dolls, Bridget Jones Diary, and Sex and the City, there was Rona Jaffe’s iconic The Best of Everything. Several years ago, I did a retro review of Ms. Jaffe’s book Class Reunion. I decided to revisit the book that launched Jaffe’s writing career back in 1958.

The Best of Everything focuses mostly on several young women living and loving in New York City. They all work in some capacity at Fabian Publishing. Caroline Bender (who might be considered the main character) is a recent graduate from Radcliffe and has just had her heart broken because her fiancé has married another woman. April Morrison is naïve lass hailing from Colorado. Gregg Adams (yes, a woman named Gregg) is an aspiring actress. And Barbara Lamont is a struggling single mother trying to make it after a divorce.

The Best of Everything takes place in the early 1950s. The career women are all career gals, and the men are all cads. The women in the typing pool all try to evade the advances of lecherous Fabian executive Mr. Shalimar. And Caroline especially has to deal with the bitchy and imperious older female editor Amanda Farrow. Remember this is a time where women were just supposed to deal with sexual harassment (long before the #MeToo movement), and there was no idea of a sisterhood in the workplace.

Caroline especially has ambitions that go beyond the typing pool. She starts reading stories sent into Fabian and shows a great deal of potential to be a top notch editor. But Amanda often tries to put a damper on Caroline’s aspirations, and not surprisingly, Amanda also has trouble keeping secretaries. And though Barbara struggles as a single mother, she shows promise as a writer, and is writing columns for a women’s magazine.

But it’s love and romance that are the women’s true calling. Remember, this is the fifties, and a woman’s highest calling with being a wife and a mother. The ladies make there way through the thorny world of dating. Caroline pines for her former fiancé. And even though there are other available men to date, Caroline jumps at the chance when her former fiancé comes back into her life. Is he going to leave his wife for her or is Caroline just going to be some hookup in the big city?

April naively thinks the society man she is dating will marry her when she announces her pregnancy, but instead he takes her to a dodgy abortionist to get rid of it. Barbara desires to get married again, but is leery after going through a divorce. Won’t men think she’s a fallen woman because she’s a divorcee and a single mom? And Gregg becomes obsessed with a producer and begins to stalk him. It doesn’t end very well for her. It seems only the women’s Fabian co-worker, Mary Agnes, has grabbed the the brass ring of true womanhood. She gets married and soon after is blooming with child.

And as The Best of Everything commences, there are no specific happy ending and things aren’t tidily wrapped up in a bow. It leaves you guessing. Will these ladies find love and success in the workplace or is “having it all” a fairy tale? How will these ladies navigate the 1960s? How will they react to the sexual revolution, civil rights, the women’s lib movement, and the Vietnam war? We don’t find out, but we can speculate.

Published 65 years ago, The Best of Everything was quite shocking and risqué. It featured a cast of women characters who desired careers at a time when women were only supposed to desire husbands, babies, and domesticity in the suburbs. Jaffe was brutally honest in her depiction of women in a particular time in big city America. A lot of things have changed since the early fifties for women, and sadly, a lot of people are trying to shove us back to that time. The Best of Everything is a primer on how women are fully-dimensional human beings with desires in the boardroom and the bedroom. The Best of Everything is both timeless and timely.

Book Review: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

I’ve been a huge fan of writer Curtis Sittenfeld ever since I read her first book Prep back in 2005. And I really loved her collection of short stories You Think It, I’ll Say It, which I reviewed several years ago. So when I cam across Sittenfeld’s latest novel Romantic Comedy, I was really excited. Sadly, my excitement soon abated after reading this book.

Romantic Comedy begins in 2018. Sally Milz is a writer for the late night comedy sketch show “The Night Owls,” clearly a take on the long-running “Saturday Night Love.” As the novel commences, one of writers, schlubby Danny Horst, has fallen in love with a guest star on “The Night Owls,” Annabel, a famous and beautiful actress. Sally wonders if a a hot and famous guy would ever fall in love with a schlubby female writer. Sally is about to find out when musician and songwriter, Noah Webster, guest stars on “The Night Owls.” Sally, who was married and divorced in her twenties and currently has a booty call relationship, finds herself connecting with Noah. But she thinks she’s just too plain and dorky for a hottie like Noah. And even though Sally and Noah seem to have a connection, nothing really happens between them other than a wee bit of a flirtation.

Fast forward two years to 2020. Yes, we all know what was going on in that dreaded year, Covid. Sally reconnects with Noah when he sends her an email out of the blue. Sally is back in her hometown, Kansas City, Missouri, looking after her elderly stepfather, Jerry, and Jerry’s dog, Sugar. Noah is holed up in his LA mansion with a couple of servants. In these emails, Sally discuss trying to get by in the time of Covid, and there is some talk of Black Lives Matter and the Trump presidency. But mostly, Sally and Noah learn more and more about each other, and that initial connection on the set of “The Night Owls” grows stronger.

Despite Covid, Sally decides to road trip to Los Angeles to visit Noah. Their connection turns to romance, and yes, they consummate their relationship. Noah seems to truly be into Sally, but of course, Sally has her doubts even when he travels to Kansas City and helps Sally take care of her stepfather when he contracts a serious case of Covid (spoiler alert: Jerry survives). Sally realizes Noah truly loves her and their relationship can go the distance.

I truly wanted to love Romantic Comedy but I was so underwhelmed. The beginning of the novel, where Sally and Noah meet, spent far too much time focusing on writing for “The Night Owls.” I usually love a behind the scenes look at working on a television show, but too many details bogged down the flow of the novel. And though I’m no prude, I really didn’t appreciate the potty humor. I can handle fart and poop jokes from a twelve year old boy, but not from a grown ass woman like Sally. Plus, I think the details about writing for the show never gave Sittenfeld a chance to develop any initial chemistry between Sally and Noah.

Which made me wonder why Noah would seek out Sally via email two years later when no chemistry seemed to be in place. But I guess we wouldn’t have a novel. Plus, do we need to rehash Covid? I found a lot of the emails between these two kind of boring, and the social issues and political stuff just seemed crammed in.

And then there is the section where Sally and Noah fall in love. I didn’t feel any chemistry between the two. Sally was written as a drip. Sally had no self-confidence and the way she was written you would have thought she was the ugliest dog on the planet. However, there are no descriptions of Sally’s looks? Is she blonde, brunette, a redhead? I kept picturing her looking like Tina Fey who is very attractive. And Noah was written as too perfect. He always did the right thing and always knew what to say. Sure, this makes him sound like a dreamboat, but it wasn’t very realistic.

Look, I know the pandemic was hard on all of us, and maybe Sittenfeld was on a strict deadline, but Romantic Comedy just didn’t do it for me. The romance was so flat, and never once did I get any humor. I’m hoping this is just a small hiccup in Sittenfeld’s writing career and her next effort will be topnotch.

Retro Review: Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher

I first became aware of Carrie Fisher when I saw the movie “Star Wars” back in 1977 where she played the iconic Princess Leia. Instead of being a simpering wuss like so many princesses I grew up with, Princess Leia was totally bad ass, and I loved her for that. But Carrie Fisher was so much more than Princess Leia. She was also a talented script doctor and author, her first book being Postcards from the Edge, which was published in 1987.

Postcards from the Edge follows the story of one Suzanne Vale. Suzanne is an actress and as the book begins, Suzanne has had a drug overdose and is now drying out in a rehab center. There are several sections to Postcards from the Edge. The first part follows postcards Suzanne sends to members of her family while she’s in rehab. Remember, this book takes place in the 1980s and postcards were the way people could briefly communicate when a phone wasn’t available. In 2023, people would be communicating via emails or texts. But Emails from the Edge or Texts from the Edge doesn’t quite have the right zing. While in treatment, Suzanne also tries to keep up with journaling, writing about her experiences in rehab and coming to grips with her addiction. She also shares her flirtation with a fellow addict named Alex.

When Suzanne finally gets out of rehab, she starts dating a producer named Jack Burroughs. This part features dialogue between Suzanne and Jack. It also features Suzanne speaking to her therapist, and Jack speaking to his lawyer (who in a way is kind of a therapist).

The last three sections follow Suzanne’s life as she tries to revive her career and stay clean. She’s making a movie and living with her grandparents during filming. While filming, she’s constantly being hassled for being overly tense, and is chided for not chilling out enough. Later one, we follow Suzanne through her non-acting life, working out with her trainer, hanging out with friends, industry events, and various meetings related to her career. During this time, Suzanne meets an author, and later she develops a relationship with this author while also facing the anniversary of her overdose and her time in rehab. And in the epilogue, Suzanne writes a letter to the doctor who pumped her stomach when she overdosed. Interestingly enough, the doctor had sought her out. Suzanne lets him know that she’s still clean, on the mend, and doing so much better. The doctor even asks Suzanne if she’s seeing someone, and she can’t help but feel a little charmed by his interest. And though Suzanne knows her life is better than a lot of people’s, she still doesn’t quite feel at peace.

Postcards from the Edge isn’t a book that has a strong plot. It is more about Suzanne’s internal musings and facing her shortcomings and challenges. Suzanne is written in a way that is relatable. And Fisher gives her just the right humor to make Suzanne funny. Suzanne Vale is all too human, and Postcards from the Edge (despite the 80s of it-MTV showing videos, cocaine use) is still relevant today. I wish Fisher was still with us in 2023. We could really use her unique voice as a writer.