Against a richly detailed backdrop of glamourous settings, the protagonists of this month’s selections rub shoulders with influencers from Hollywood Golden Age stars to American wealthy to royalty in stories that show women battling the societal restrictions of the 50s and 60s to take control of their own lives.
We begin with THE CHATEAU ON SUNSET by Natasha Lester. After the tragic death of her parents, thirteen-year-old Aria Jones is sent to live with her aunt, an aging film star battling booze and drugs at Chateau Marmont, an exclusive residence favored by Hollywood elite (a real place, now a boutique hotel.) Left on her own by the aunt uninterested in raising her, Aria is befriended by two aspiring actresses, Calliope and Flitter. Also residing at the Marmont is producer Bob Ashencroft, one of Hollywood’s power brokers who’s prepared to advance the careers of nubile young actresses – for a price. Growing up observing the dark underside of Hollywood glamour, Aria wants to earn enough to escape the Marmont and live her own life. But when reclusive rock star Theo Winchester buys the Marmont and hires Aria to tutor his daughter Adele, a growing passion for her employer will have Aria reevaluating what she wants – and what it really means to achieve her dreams.
Our second novel set at a real place is LAST SUMMER AT MAIN CHANCE by Jessica Everett. Aspiring economist Cynthia Proctor has her career plans derailed when her college doesn’t renew her scholarship, awarding that and the paid assistant job she’d expected to a male student. Determined to not to abandon her goal, she accepts the invitation from her wealthy roommate Pauline to stay at the family’s summer lake house in Maine, where she might find employment. While Pauline and her female friends look for fun and flirt with potential rich husbands, Cynthia takes the only job she can find, as a maid at the Main Chance Resort, a lavish spa for women established by Elizabeth Arden. Here she forms bonds with two other women with their own goals: widowed local artist Geraldine, who comes to the spa to escape her importunate relatives and rediscover her muse, and head housekeeper Iris, trying to balance maintaining the level of perfection in décor, cuisine and service demanded by Miss Arden with caring for a mother descending into dementia. Set against the beauty of coastal Maine and rich in detail about the Arden resort and American life in the 50s, Everett’s book explores the class divisions and differing expectations for women of that era and the strength of female friendship that helps them fight those limitations to capture their dreams.
From Hollywood glamour and American wealth, we switch to the dark mystery of the Cold War in THE WOMEN OF ARLINGTON HALL by Jane Healey. Her ambitions awakened, Russian scholar and Radcliffe graduate Cat Killeen cancels her wedding and her expected future as a society wife, and at the urging of a professor, takes a job at a confidential military project at Arlington Hall in Virginia. Here Cat and other “government girls” skilled in cryptoanalysis work at decoding messages to foil the KGB’s attempt to steal nuclear secrets by embedding Soviet spies into the U.S. government. On a weekend break in Washington, she encounters arrogant former Harvard rival Jonathan Dardis, now an FBI agent. The competitive pair share a turbulent attraction and a common goal – to protect America from the danger posed by an aggressive Soviet empire. Against the backdrop of real Cold War agents and government officials, Cat finds herself immersed in intrigue, secrecy and danger that tests the limits of how much she is willing to risk upholding her ideals.
We conclude with a novel that parallels the strivings of three different women with those of the girl about to be the first female to exercise royal power in a century in THE QUEEN’S CORONATION by Jennifer Ryan. Caroline Brimstone, assistant dresser to the queen, struggles to support her beloved daughter despite the excesses of her controlling gambler husband. Young, naïve junior wardrobe assistant Lucy Jones, who longs to become a singer, is thrilled to capture the attention of a wealthy palace insider who promises to forward her career – if she’s willing to satisfy his wishes. Miranda Miller, determined to establish herself as a journalist in the male-dominated news industry, seizes a chance to hang on to her job by getting herself hired as a temporary secretary at the palace, from which position she can generate “insider” reports about the coronation for her editor. As the young queen prepares to step out of her traditional female role, these three also must discover what it will take to break free of their limited positions and find the inner resources needed to reach for their dreams.
All four of this month’s selections feature the complex mix of desires and aspirations that prompted women of the 50s and 60s to band together and fight against male-dominated society’s expectations and limitations, seeking to express their true selves and pursue their different dreams – battles that led the way to the far greater opportunities and fewer limits women enjoy today. Bravo to the pioneers!
About Julia Justiss
Real, intense, passionate historical romance
Award-winning romance author Julia Justiss, who has written more than thirty historical novels and novellas set in the English Regency and the American West, just completed her first contemporary series set in the fictional Hill Country town of Whiskey River, Texas.
A voracious reader who began jotting down plot ideas for Nancy Drew novels in her third grade spiral, Julia has published poetry and worked as a business journalist.
She and her husband live in East Texas, where she continues to craft the stories she loves. Check her website for details about her books, chat with her on social media, and follow her on Bookbub and Amazon to receive notices about her latest releases.
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