Scandalous Women by Gill Paul (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of Scandalous Women by Gill Paul.

Have you ever read any books by Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann?  I have had their novels on my TBR forever, but I still need to read them. I know just a little about both authors and I was excited to review a new novel about them, Scandalous Women by Gill Paul.

In the 1960’s Jacqueline Susann revolutionized publishing in the United States with her new racy book, Valley of the Dolls, and her groundbreaking way to advertise it by have a cross-country book tour.  Meanwhile, in London, Jackie Collins has written her own shocking novel, The World is Full of Married Men. Nancy White is an assistant editor for both and lives the type of life that is could be a story in a Jacqueline Susann or Jackie Collins novel.  Will the women be able to help each other to achieve their dreams?

My thoughts on this book:

·       I enjoyed this novel.  It was another book that I couldn’t put down.  I quickly read it and relished it.

·       The book was told through alternating narratives from the viewpoint of each of the three women.  I found all three storylines to be fascinating.

·       I learned so much about Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins.  I more than ever want to read their books. I empathized with both women.  Jacqueline Susann was a fierce woman on the outside, but behind closed doors, she struggled with breast cancer and with trying to earn money to ensure that her disabled son would be able to have money to be taken care of for the rest of his life.  Jackie Collins had an abusive first marriage but found love with her second husband.  She was devoted to her three daughters.  Both women wanted to make a name for themselves, and they dared to by writing about women who liked sex, which was unheard of in 1960s publishing.

·       I enjoyed Nancy’s fictional story as well.  She’s a naive newcomer to New York City that through her own grit and determination, is able to make it in the big city.  She also has problems with love along the way.

·       I had never really thought about modern day book tours, they are just what every author does.  I did not realize that Jacqueline Susann was the first person to do this and shape the modern book tour.

·       It was fascinating to me to think about how these two women “invented” a grittier type of women’s fiction.

·       I liked the relationships between the three women in the novel.

·       I enjoyed the historical afterword about the real history of these amazing women at the end of the novel.

Favorite quote: “I don’t approve of women’s novels being patronized by the literary establishment.  We should all read whatever we want without shame.”

This book was published on August 13, 2024.

Overall, Scandalous Women is an addictive story of two powerful women authors who were able to find their own path in the 1960s.  This was great historical fiction that I could not put down.