Well Behaved Women

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Pub Date 30 Mar 2023 | Archive Date 30 Mar 2023

Description

‘An engaging portrait of an indomitable woman at the heart of Golden Age Hollywood’ Gill Paul, bestselling author of The Manhattan Girls

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I was hooked from the first page… it had what I was looking for in the Golden Age of Hollywood’ NetGalley reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Really reminded me of City of Girls, the lifestyle, the glamour but also the tenderness… Wonderful!’ NetGalley reviewer

For fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and City of Girls.

‘You’re young and beautiful. The world is your oyster – it’s up to you to find your pearl’

When Maybelle Crabtree, a God-fearing farm girl from Kentucky, has a chance encounter with a charismatic stranger, her life changes forever. With an invitation to join the infamous Alla Nazimova and her Sewing Circle, Maybelle’s eyes are opened to a life of decadence and glamour.

Able to freely discover her own sexuality, Maybelle embraces all that Hollywood has to offer in the hedonist roaring twenties.

But both Maybelle and Alla have secrets that threaten to bring their gilded lives crashing down. Hearts will be broken, careers destroyed and friendships shattered because what happens behind closed doors, doesn’t stay hidden forever…

TW: This book contains scenes of a sexual nature, violence, domestic abuse and abortion.

Readers have been swept away by Well Behaved Women:

‘An enticing parallel portrait, of women endeavouring to be heard in a glittering but masculine era’ Mandy Robotham, international bestselling author

‘An extraordinary story’ Georgia Kaufmann, author of The Dressmaker of Paris

Emotional and poignant… beautifully written and so evocative. A truly fantastic read!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Excellent… I was totally involved in the story, the characters and their lives’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eye-opening… a trip back in time’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A thoroughly engaging read with fascinating queer women against the backdrop of the Hollywood age. Bravo!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I was not fully prepared to completely fall in love with this book’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Beautifully crafted, richly detailed with captivating characters’ ’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘An engaging portrait of an indomitable woman at the heart of Golden Age Hollywood’ Gill Paul, bestselling author of The Manhattan Girls

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I was hooked from the first page… it had what...


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9780008527655
PRICE £1.99 (GBP)
PAGES 384

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Average rating from 68 members


Featured Reviews

While living with her pastor uncle, and recruiting for the church run out of his farm, Maybelle meets a beautiful, worldly woman... and when that woman, Josephine, takes an interest in her and invites her to a party at movie star Alla's house, Maybelle gets swept up in a life of glamour that couldn't be more different than the godly life she's known.

This book alternates between Maybelle's storyline, starting in 1919 (in first person) and Alla's, starting a few decades before (in third person). Their stories are very different, but there are threads of similarities, even before the two characters ever meet. The alternating storylines were incredibly impactful, and as Alla's storyline approached where Maybelle's begin, I found myself desperate to know exactly how Alla ended up where she did.

Well Behaved Women is intense-- heartbreaking and horrifying and beautiful. It's a story about identity--about these characters' sexualities, family dynamics, and how they fit into the world. Alla and Maybelle couldn't be more different, but I saw both of them in each other--and myself in both of them.


Trigger warnings for sexual assault and domestic abuse.

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