The Subway Girls by Susie Orman Schnall – 320 pages
Book Blurb:
In 1949, dutiful and ambitious Charlotte’s dream of a career in advertising is shattered when her father demands she help out with the family business. Meanwhile, Charlotte is swept into the glamorous world of the Miss Subways beauty contest, which promises irresistible opportunities with its Park Avenue luster and local fame status. But when her new friend—the intriguing and gorgeous fellow-participant Rose—does something unforgivable, Charlotte must make a heart-wrenching decision that will change the lives of those around her forever.
Nearly 70 years later, outspoken advertising executive Olivia is pitching the NYC subways account in a last ditch effort to save her job at an advertising agency. When the charismatic boss she’s secretly in love with pits her against her misogynistic nemesis, Olivia’s urgent search for the winning strategy leads her to the historic Miss Subways campaign. As the pitch date closes in on her, Olivia finds herself dealing with a broken heart, an unlikely new love interest, and an unexpected personal connection to Miss Subways that could save her job—and her future.
My Review: 4 stars
The Subway Girls is a wonderful story of how the past and the present converge through a little known advertising campaign. Schnall takes an interesting part of New York City’s history and introduces it to the reader in a readable and relatable way.
There are two interwoven stories going on in this novel. One takes place in the late 1940s to the mid 1970 and is about a no nonsense woman with an agenda to work, create ads and be successful before even considering marriage. The other storyline takes place in current times and is about a modern day feminist who chooses her work in advertising as a priority, yet finds it being compromised due to a misogynistic co-worker.
It is this character that introduces the reader to The Subway Girls, women who competed to be on monthly advertisements inside the New York subway trains. The women were chosen on looks first and personality second. The ads ran to give the businessmen “eye candy” and to show all riders that the girl next door rides the train also. Can you even imagine this happening today?
How these two stories intersect was predictable but no less enjoyable because of it. Both women were strong and tenacious characters who in many ways mirrored one another. Along the way there were friendships made, friendships destroyed, families broken and brought together, new romances, relationships tested, innocent children to raise, unleashing the truth and discovering your true self. This is a great book to introduce readers to historical fiction because it reads so easily and the subject matter is new and interesting.
Quotes I liked:
She liked to think of herself as spontaneous, but she’d never really had an opportunity to test out the theory.”
-“No one had ever done anything like this for her. Took care of her. She had to admit, though she was staunchly in favor of taking care of herself, that it felt kind of nice.”
-“If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that I need to make my life happen for me, not let it happen to me.”
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