Reprinted from auburnpub.com
More Fun Summer Reads
Summer is a great time to pick up a fun book, and continuing in the vein of last month’s Book Report, I have more summer reads for you.
John Searles usually writes atmospheric psychological thrillers (Her Last Affair and Strange But True), and this summer he switches gears with Single Girls a delightful fictionalized book about Helen Gurley Brown and the origins of Cosmopolitan magazine in the 1960s.
Helen’s book 1965 Sex and the Single Girl encouraging women to hold off on marriage until they were ready and to enjoy a healthy sex life scandalized many people. It also was a clarion call for single women everywhere.
The success of the book encouraged Helen to start a magazine for women. Most of the male publishers turned her away immediately but one publisher (whose wife encouraged him to give Helen a chance) offered her three issues to prove that she could sell magazines and advertising revenue in the magazine.
In the novel we meet the women Helen hired as writers and editors, and they are each unique and interesting. I was particularly drawn to Helen’s friendship with Liz Smith, who went on to become a mainstay of New York City tabloids writing columns about the rich, famous, and infamous. The larger-than-life Liz and the self-professed “mouseburger” Helen had a wonderful work relationship.
I so enjoyed reading about all the hard work that went into making Cosmopolitan one of the most successful magazines in the country. Cosmopolitan’s ad revenue was always among the highest grossing in the publisher’s portfolio. Anyone who was around in the 1970s-1990s will remember the ubiquitous “Cosmo” covers and enjoy reading how it all started.
John Searles was the editor of Cosmopolitan’s book review page for some years and his love for the magazine business, and Helen Gurley Brown and Cosmopolitan in particular, adds such joy and insight.
You know it’s summer when a Mary Kay Andrews book has arrived. This year it’s Road Trip about two sisters- Maeve, a school administrator who spent the past months caring for their dying mother, and Therese, a struggling actress who left home years ago and hasn’t been successful.
When their mother passes away they discover that she mortgaged her home to give her money to a shady televangelist. The only thing she left them was a painting of a supposed wealthy Irish ancestor and money to travel to Ireland together.
Therese does some digging and discovers that their exact same painting had recently sold for millions, and so she convinces Maeve to travel with her to Ireland to see if their painting is also worth money.
The two sisters are different as night and day but they manage to work together as they discover the true story behind their painting, although there are people in the little town who would prefer they go home rather than uncover long hidden secrets.
The mystery, a blossoming romance, and the Ireland setting all combine to make for a charming story. It just may be Mary Kay Andrews’ best book yet.
Annabel Monaghan is another author who writes novels perfect for summer reading (It’s a Love Story, Nora Goes Off Script). This summer it’s Dolly All The Time about a single mom of teenage son who makes her annual summer return to her hometown near Newport, Rhode Island to help her father in his seafood store.
Times are stressed for Dolly and when she learns that her father’s home needs a new roof, she doesn’t know how they will pay for it. Enter the town’s wealthiest resident’s scion son, Stewart Whitfield, whose fiancee was just caught canoodling with a New York Yankee player.
Stewart believes his broken engagement takes him out of the running for the CEO position at his family’s company, something he earnestly desires. When he gets a flat tire and Dolly helps him change it, a photo of them ends up in the tabloids.
Stewart asks Dolly to go along with the dating charade and offers to pay her. Dolly reluctantly agrees, knowing that the money will pay for a new roof. Dolly accompanies Stewart to family and business functions, and soon the fake dating scenario becomes real.
As with any romance novel, there comes a time when things go off course, but there is always a happily ever after. The joy is seeing how the author gets there, and Annabel Monaghan writes with humor and heart, and her characters are always people with whom you want to spend time.
Single Girls by John Searles- A
Published by Mariner Books
Hardcover, $30, 384 pages
Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews- A
Published by St. Martin’s Press
Hardcover, $30, 448 pages
Dolly All The Time by Annabel Monaghan- A
Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Trade paperback, $20, 400 pages
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