Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Alcove Press, Published November 10th

Format: Ebook ARC

Pages: unknown

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (Goodreads):

Welcome to the Starlite. Let your true self shine.

1962. In the middle of Brooklyn Heights sits the Starlite: boutique dress shop by day, underground women’s club by night. Started by the shop’s proprietor after her marriage crumbled, Madeline’s social club soon becomes a safe haven for women from all walks of life looking for a respite from their troubled relationships and professional frustrations. These after-hour soirées soon bring two very different women into Madeline’s life–Elaine, a British ex-pat struggling to save her relationship, and Lisa, a young stewardess whose plans for the future are suddenly upended–irrevocably changing all three women’s lives in ways no one could have predicted.

But when Madeline’s ne’er-do-well ex-husband shows up again, the luster of Starlite quickly dampens. As the sisterhood rallies around Madeline, tension begins to eat at the club. When an unspeakable tragedy befalls their sorority, one woman must decide whether to hide the truth from the group or jeopardize her own hopes and dreams. Sure to appeal to readers of Kathleen Tessaro and Suzanne Rindell, Glimmer As You Can captures the heartbeat of an era and the ambitions of a generation of women living in a man’s world–a world threatened by a wave of change.

My Review:

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the copy of this book.
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Glimmer as You Can is an excellent glimpse into what life was like for women back in 1960s Brooklyn. We have Lisa, who loves her life as a stewardess because she gets to travel and have freedom and go on adventures. We see the sexism that comes with the job, as Lisa has to maintain a certain weight and she can only work for a limited time. She will either leave the job because she is too old or she gets married; not because she wants to quit. We can also see how the patriarchy controls Lisa as well because she wants to get married so that she doesn’t have to be forced out because she’s too old, and stays in a relationship with a total loser because of this.
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We also have Elaine, who is a total boss and gets a job as a fact checker at a newspaper. She gets this job because she wants to work, but also so that she can support her fiancé, who’s an alcoholic. She has to tiptoe around the subject of her working because she doesn’t want to hurt his male ego, due to the fact that she’s the one supporting them. This was super frustrating!
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And then finally, our last character is Madeline, who owns a dress shop and turns the store into a club for women at night. I loved how she created this place where women could just be themselves, and not have to play a certain role in society while they were there. Madeline also has to deal with an abusive ex husband, who couldn’t handle her success.
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Overall, this book showcases not only the struggles that women went through and still go through, but the strength and resiliency of women in society!