Book Synopsis:
1966:In London, Jackie Collins’s racy The World is Full of Married Men hits bookshops and launches her career. In New York, Jacqueline Susann’s debut novel Valley of the Dolls is published, and she’s desperate for it to be a bestseller. But both are about to discover the price they will pay for being women who dare to write about sex.
Meanwhile, college graduate Nancy White is excited to take up her dream job at a Manhattan publishing house. But Nancy could never be prepared for the rampant sexism she is about to encounter.
When Nancy introduces the two Jackies, she fears they will become rivals in their race to top the charts. As she strives to achieve her ambition of becoming an editor, can all three women succeed despite the men determined to hold them back?
My Review:
Scandalous Women is a gripping, fascinating read from one of my favourite historical fiction authors.
The story is told from the point of view of three characters, real life authors Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins as well as a book editor called Nancy. I had heard of Jackie Collins as I’m a huge fan of her books but I don’t think I’d heard of Jacqueline before. I really enjoyed learning more about their lives and how they started off as authors. The author does a great job of describing the publishing industry in the 1960’s so I felt that I was actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters. The 60’s were a period of newly found freedom where a lot of women were able to join the workforce and gain independence. However it was also quite a sexist time and I soon found myself getting very upset as I discovered more about what women had to put up with.
I thought the book had a great pace to it and there was always something happening to keep me reading. Even in the quieter moments I was just happy hanging out with the fabulous characters as they tried to negotiating the publishing world. I love reading about strong female characters so I enjoyed watching following these three women as they make their way to the top.
I think I’ve read every book Gill has written and in my opinion she keeps getting better and better.
Huge thanks to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Avon for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Gill Paul is the international bestselling author of thirteen novels, many of them reevaluating extraordinary twentieth-century women whom she believes have been marginalized or misjudged. Her novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Toronto Globe & Mail charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages.
Her latest novel, SCANDALOUS WOMEN (2024), is about trailblazing authors Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann battling their way to the top in the misogynous boys’ club of 1960s publishing. A BEAUTIFUL RIVAL (2023) is about the infamous feud between beauty tycoons Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. JACKIE AND MARIA (2020) was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown. THE COLLECTOR”S DAUGHTER (2021) was named a Times ‘historical novel of the month’ and THE MANHATTAN GIRLS (2022), was reviewed in The Sun as a “sweeping, evocative tale” and in The Book List as “Witty, emotional and intelligent”.
Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN FIFTY OBJECTS and a series of Love Stories. Published around the world, this series includes ROYAL LOVE STORIES, WORLD WAR I LOVE STORIES and TITANIC LOVE STORIES.
Gill lives in London where she swims year round in a wild pond, and speaks at libraries and literary festivals on topics ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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