About the Book
Like Swans of Fifth Avenue and Truman Capote’s Answered Prayers, Richard Kirshenbaum’s Rouge gives readers a rare front row seat into the world of high society and business through the rivalry of two beauty industry icons, by the master marketer and chronicler of the over-moneyed.
Rouge is a sexy, glamorous journey into the rivalry of the pioneers of powder, mascara and rouge.
This fast-paced novel examines the lives, loves, and sacrifices of the visionaries who invented the modern cosmetics industry: Josiah Herzenstein, born in a Polish Jewish Shtlel, the entrepreneur who transforms herself into a global style icon and the richest woman in the world, Josephine Herz; Constance Gardiner, her rival, the ultimate society woman who invents the door-to-door business and its female workforce but whose deepest secret threatens everything; CeeCee Lopez, the bi-racial beauty and founder of the first African American woman’s hair relaxer business, who overcomes prejudice and heartbreak to become her community’s first female millionaire. The cast of characters is rounded out by Mickey Heron, a dashing, sexy ladies’ man whose cosmetics business is founded in a Hollywood brothel. All are bound in a struggle to be number one, doing anything to get there…including murder.
My Review
If you don’t know me, my name is Samantha March and I love books and I love beauty. When I read the synopsis of Rouge, I knew I had to get the full story. I’m also a fan of historical fiction, so a novel that took us from the 1920s to the 1940s and focused on the cosmetic industry seemed liked a perfect match for me. This story was so fun to follow along. The rivalry between beauty industry icons – Josephine and Constance – was like following a tennis match. Both wanting to be the cosmetics queen, yet both understanding that they truly needed one another to succeed. Being such a beauty lover myself, it was so much fun to read about mascaras and even hair relaxers, and follow a time where marketing was completely different than what we have today in the industry. There is quite the supporting cast in this story, and while some characters I couldn’t quite figure out their role in the story or they didn’t seem totally necessary, I still had a lot of fun reading this one. If you are a fan of historical fiction or are a beauty lover like myself, I think you would like this one.
4 stars
