About the Book
It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm, in this dazzling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Social Graces and Park Avenue Summer.
In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least that’s what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal. She’s ready for a total life makeover and a friend she can lean on—and into her path walks a young, idealistic woman named Estée. Their chance encounter will change Gloria’s life forever.
Estée 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 friend’s mission and while Estée rolls up her sleeves, Gloria begins to discover her own talents. After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York’s finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, which proves instrumental in opening doors for Estée’s insatiable ambitions.
But in a world unaccustomed to women with power, they’ll each have to pay the price that comes with daring to live life on their own terms and refusing to back down.
My Review
I have read Renee Rosen in the past and really enjoy her historical fiction novels. When I saw her latest was based on Estee Lauder, a determined businesswoman determined to find success in the beauty world, I knew I had to read it. I started my Youtube channel in 2015 and covered makeup reviews, tutorials, challenges and hauls, but my love of beauty started with my grandmother when I was much younger. I used to wander the makeup aisles for fun at stores, carefully draw beauty marks on myself like I saw my Grams do, and when I eventually made a career out of talking about makeup, it felt like a dream. I was very aware of the company Estee Lauder (the good and the bad) but I didn’t know much about the woman behind it all. I wanted to learn.
Of course, with this being historical fiction I know every word, situation, or nuance about Estee Lauder was necessarily true. The story is told through the eyes of Estee’s fictional friend, Gloria Downing. Gloria’s own story I thought was fascinating, and I felt this book did a good job balancing the storylines of the two women. Gloria’s family life is in shambles after her father is sent to prison, and while she grew up wealthy, it’s all ripped away and she finds herself begging for a job as a shampoo girl in a beauty parlor. There she meets Estee Lauder, a woman determined to make other women feel better by selling them her cold creams or eyeshadows. The two become close friends, but we know from the beginning of the book they also have a huge falling out and we learn more about this from chapter to chapter.
If you are a beauty lover, I think you will find this fascinating. From understanding the desire amongst business owners to get their products into department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and the feuds amongst some of them (and the lengths they’ll go to) gave me plenty of raised eyebrow moments. Seeing the drive of Estee Lauder and how she sincerely believed in her products and knew they could change how women view themselves was inspiring to read. To learn about how her business became a family business – with her husband and her side and even her young sons getting involved – definitely had me taking to Google to learn more about her family and which pieces in the novel were true. I was fascinated to start to understand the rise of Estee Lauder more and how it turned into the huge corporation it is today – all because Estee never quit on her dream. I loved this novel and highly recommend.
5 stars
