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A review by brooke_review
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renée Rosen
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The struggles of a young Estee Lauder as she attempts to make her big break in the cutthroat beauty business are reimagined through the eyes of her fictional best friend Gloria Downing in Renee Rosen's new novel, Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl.
When shampoo girl Gloria meets skincare peddler Estee in a New York salon, she has no idea that she is standing face-to-face with a woman who will one day build a beauty empire. Having grown up among the East Coast elite, Gloria is attempting to reinvent herself after her father is sent to prison for running a massive Ponzi scheme. Hiding out from her former social circle, Gloria accepts Estee's easily given friendship, and the two quickly become bosom companions.
Gloria sees her new friend Estee through the trials and triumphs as she pounds the pavement with her skincare arsenal, struggling to get the big department stores to see her as more than just a lowly woman hawking her wares. As Estee makes waves in the beauty industry, doing things no other brand dares - free make-up testing, anyone? - Gloria too steps out of her comfort zone, eventually landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, which may just be the foot in the door Estee needs to get her hands on her big break.
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl is a richly detailed Estee Lauder-adjacent novel that combines a satisfying mix of truth and fiction. While the story of Gloria is a figment of Rosen's imagination, much of the details of Estee's life are true, including her breaking into the beauty industry through Saks. I knew nothing about Estee Lauder, aside from her name, before reading this novel, and feel that I got an incredible sense of the woman who "would not take no for an answer" through this book.
I quite enjoyed learning about how Estee revolutionized the beauty industry, turning it on its head and giving women what they actually wanted, as well as how Estee was able to maintain a facade of her background and upbringing for years in order to be more accepted. This novel paints a vivid picture of the New York beauty scene in the 1930s and 40s, and comes highly recommended to fans of biographical fiction.
When shampoo girl Gloria meets skincare peddler Estee in a New York salon, she has no idea that she is standing face-to-face with a woman who will one day build a beauty empire. Having grown up among the East Coast elite, Gloria is attempting to reinvent herself after her father is sent to prison for running a massive Ponzi scheme. Hiding out from her former social circle, Gloria accepts Estee's easily given friendship, and the two quickly become bosom companions.
Gloria sees her new friend Estee through the trials and triumphs as she pounds the pavement with her skincare arsenal, struggling to get the big department stores to see her as more than just a lowly woman hawking her wares. As Estee makes waves in the beauty industry, doing things no other brand dares - free make-up testing, anyone? - Gloria too steps out of her comfort zone, eventually landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, which may just be the foot in the door Estee needs to get her hands on her big break.
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl is a richly detailed Estee Lauder-adjacent novel that combines a satisfying mix of truth and fiction. While the story of Gloria is a figment of Rosen's imagination, much of the details of Estee's life are true, including her breaking into the beauty industry through Saks. I knew nothing about Estee Lauder, aside from her name, before reading this novel, and feel that I got an incredible sense of the woman who "would not take no for an answer" through this book.
I quite enjoyed learning about how Estee revolutionized the beauty industry, turning it on its head and giving women what they actually wanted, as well as how Estee was able to maintain a facade of her background and upbringing for years in order to be more accepted. This novel paints a vivid picture of the New York beauty scene in the 1930s and 40s, and comes highly recommended to fans of biographical fiction.