This is my favorite novel by this author so far, and I've read every one. Rosen has skillfully gone from the roaring twenties to the gilded age to the fifties newsroom. In this novel we follow a career woman as she tries to make it in the newspaper industry in a time when women were expected to be homemakers ala I Love Lucy (minus all the hilarious antics) and when a woman daring to carry an attache case instead of a purse darn near makes headlines.We journey with Jordan as she starts her first reporting job, determined to go from society news to the city desk. At first she starts doing this in honor of her dead brother. But by the end of the story, it's not just about him anymore. She just may find her niche. Sometimes it takes a tragedy or some heartache for us to realize that.
She not only deals with sexist problems--stealing of her byline, callous remarks, prejudice--but has issues at home with two parents who don't know how to bounce back from the death of their son.
There's a wealth of Chicago history here, from politics, dirty cops, FBI investigations, White Sox bomb raid sirens, the Mob... The author tells us in the end what's real and what's not. Most of it adapted from real-life stories and situations that occurred.
There's romance, but if you're looking solely for a romantic story with a happy ending, this isn't the novel for you. This heroine has her romance and she feels love, but when it comes right down to it, she knows she needs more in life. Here we finally have a heroine who doesn't become what a man wants her to, but stays true to herself. Take it or leave it, fellows.
The writing is stellar, engrossing, not too much of this or that, not too little. The descriptions were excellent. I was never bored or driven to skimming sentences.
Highly recommend this one, ladies.
I received this via Netgalley.
I will definitely read this one. When Book Babe gives five stars, I know it is worth reading!
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