Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renรฉe Rosen ย โ 432 pages
ARC from Berkley Pub and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renรฉe Rosen: In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least thatโs what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal. Sheโs ready for a total life makeover and a friend she can lean onโand into her path walks a young, idealistic woman named Estรฉe. Their chance encounter will change Gloriaโs life forever.
Estรฉe 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 friendโs mission and while Estรฉe rolls up her sleeves, Gloria begins to discover her own talents. After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New Yorkโs finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, which proves instrumental in opening doors for Estรฉeโs insatiable ambitions.
But in a world unaccustomed to women with power, theyโll each have to pay the price that comes with daring to live life on their own terms and refusing to back down.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renรฉe Rosen was a stellar look into the life of Estee Lauder, the iconic woman who created the brand Estee Lauder, and turned it into a household name. I love the way Rosen uses a secondary character to get inside the head of the real-life character. In this case itโs Gloria, her confidant, her bestie and the one who knew Estee better than herself. ย
Donโt get me wrong, Gloria may not be the main character, but her role in the book is irreplaceable. Her storyline is just as juicy as Esteeโs, and at some points even more so. Gloria played arbitrator between Esteeโs husband Joe and Estee, she was often their sonโs babysitter, and worked/flourished at Saks Fifth Avenue, when Estee couldnโt get through the door.
Estee was ambitious, stubborn, hard-working and smart, but she was also something she couldnโt stand โ being broke. She knew she created amazing products, but her struggle to get to the Saks makeup counter seemed more like a dream than ever becoming a reality.
Learning Esteeโs real back story and feeling her desperation to succeed was empowering. Letโs face it, hard work pays offโฆthatโs why they call it hard. Estee became a force to be reckoned with and beyond her imagination in terms of success.
This is a well-researched novel and will completely entertain you. Well done!
Quotes I liked:
Donโt forget that we become the people we think we are.โ
โI donโt believe in being realistic.โ
โIntimacy is much more personal than sex.โ
โSometimes youโre the dog and sometimes youโre the hydrant.โ
โI couldnโt handle being happy. I was just more comfortable in my state of purgatory.โ