Kitty Tessler the only child of a self-made hotel tycoon, is spoiled, selfish and most unhappy with the status of her life. For her, money isn't everything...what she wants that she struggles to achieve, is to become part of the social elite, to have a pedigree, as opposed to being the daughter of an immigrant. True, her father may be as wealthy as those in the higher stratosphere, they are not among the the "upper crust". Given strict instructions by her father, Kitty has to either get herself married or else and his efforts to play matchmaker only seems to make things worse.



Her schemes, which involves her best friend Henrietta, "Hen" whose fiance has more than a wandering eye, is purely for selfish motives. On a month long trip to Miami, Kitty's plotting takes a turn in another direction. Taking her friend along with her, and as the plot thickens, nothing goes as planned. Then a side trip to Havana,really opens her eyes, seeing life away from her penthouse suite in Miami, she sees the dramatic side of poverty, she sees the beginning of the Castro Revolution as well as racism -- not a pretty site at all.



As far as I'm concerned, the author did a fairly decent job of developing Kitty's character, in fact all of the characters. For two-thirds of the book you really dislike her, at times you just wanted to put the book down and say "who needs to read this, how could you enjoy a character so spoiled, full of schemes and not at all caring who she hurts." Ah, but that's the point and the author pulled it off, redeeming her at the end. My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Though set in the 1950's Kitty reminded me of another social climber- Scarlett O'Hara. After scheming to get to the top of high society from her Nouveau riche status, Kitty's blinders slowly open to reveal another side of human nature. It is tedious, and takes the entire novel, but at last Kitty finds her own way in the world.

Overall, I liked but did not love LADY BE GOOD. In some ways, it pales in comparison to A FINE IMITATION, Amber Brock's first novel. Here's what works: the 1950's time period, the lush settings. The writing itself is very fine - Brock's word choice and sentences feel nuanced and the plot is nicely paced. But here's what didn't work as well for me: Kitty. Our main character is a little selfish and I had trouble sympathizing with her social climbing. It's tricky, I know, to show the development, the arc from selfish to having a conscience. And to be fair, Kitty does grow and develop throughout the novel, which I liked. I also appreciated how her growth felt organic; it arose from the story events and did not seem preachy or forced. Overall, this is a nice period piece for readers who might enjoy a lush 1950s historical novel.

Story of a spoiled, rich daughter of a hotel magnate trying to scheme her way into "fitting" into New York high society in the early 1950's. The first half was kind of hard to get through as Kitty was so selfish and shallow that I just couldn't stand her, but as the book went on and she began to develop a bit of a conscience and notice issues of racism and prejudice, she (and the book) become more interesting and likable.

Thanks to the publisher who provided this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m conflicted about whether I enjoyed this book or not. For the first 2/3, I disliked the central character: she was shallow and manipulative to everyone. Towards the last third of the story, she began to develop a conscience — perhaps too easily. Overall there’s very little character development and an ambitious amount of cultural change that the characters can’t live up to. Overall: meh.

Hen Bancroft and Kitty Tessler had been friends since boarding school. Hen was the daughter of a socially prominent NY family and Kitty was the daughter of the self made owner of a chain of hotels. Hen was engaged to Charles, the son of another socially prominent NY family but was not happy about Charles’ involvement with other women.

Kitty was a social climber hoping to marry a socially prominent man so that she would be welcomed into the same social circles as Hen’s family. So Kitty decided to break up the engagement of Hen & Charles and marry Charles herself. When Hen & Kitty accompanied Kitty’s father’s assistant, Andre, to Miami, Kitty put her plan in operation. The group was there for almost the entire month of December except for a short trip to Havana. Unfortunately things did not go as Kitty expected.

This is an interesting period piece as it was set in the early 1950s in NYC, Miami and pre Castro Cuba. I wish there were more character development of two of the main characters, Hen and her mother.

This book shines on every level: sentence after sentence is beautiful and precise. The characters are complicated and sympathetic, the ideas are sweeping and profound, but are never too overt. It’s a rare novel that is as accomplished in its meaning as it is in its storytelling while also succeeding wildly on the language level as well! A novel to lose yourself in and then reflect upon again and again.

Historical fiction is great. I’ve noticed that there is no shortage of WWII historical fiction, and for really good reasons. I haven’t read too much about other decades so I jumped on the 1950’s.

I just love a book that I can’t put down. I’m a tough critic and not many come my way where I am thinking of my next opportunity to sit down and read. I could not put this down at all!

I’ve recently got more involved with finding out about my heritage. I’ve already read so much about WWII and Germany where my grandfather was during the war but I have yet to explore much of my primary Spanish heritage. Although this involves Cubans, As a Puerto Rican I still feel at home when I visit Miami and I love the cultural similarities.

My first thought about the story was the class and hierarchy circles. It’s insane to think that our character Kitty, as wealthy as her and her father are, was shunned by the more wealthy. I can’t even imagine the amount of wealth that would make you look down upon Kitty’s wealth. It took me a little to get used to that the owner of luxury hotels were not the high class in this book.

This had a little flair of Dirty Dancing : Havana Nights but with more conspiracies and less dancing. Kitty was so manipulative but I really liked her character. She was witty, funny, and interesting. I loved all the characters in all honesty. I found myself imagining the dialogue in Spanish accents when the Cubans were speaking. The author did a great job of really painting the picture of what it was actually like.

The racial issues in the book are surreal. As it takes place in 1953 and Cuban tensions were rising with the United States, I was super interested. The racial tensions though between the upper white class and the “good as colored” Spanish got to me. And the hatred towards the Jewish still surprised me as well. I hate to think of it all. I never really experienced such hatred, partly because it’s 2018 and mostly because people mistake me for solely Italian long before they guess I’m Spanish. There is a portion in the book that describes just this that those that can pass for something else are forfeiting their true self. It is an awful thing to think about and the passage really stuck to me. The race issues are still real though and prejudice is still something people deal with. I think this is what hurt the most in the book for me. Brock did a good job of just letting the reader know the majority thoughts of the time without taking away from the exhilaration of experiencing the culture. I felt for Hen who seemed to be light years ahead of her “sophisticated” white family and I felt for the dilemma she was in. Kitty’s transformation was wonderful and her character was so likable even with her faults.

I can’t rave enough about the book. I am so happy I read it and will be adding it to my permanent collection when it is published this June. I have quite a few culturally Spanish books sitting on my to be read shelf including this year’s highly popular historical fiction Next Year in Havana which just shot to the top of my to be read so look out for that. I hope I enjoy it as much as Lady Be Good. I’ll be getting this in print to keep on my shelf for sure and I hope you do too!

A fluffy chick-lit read. I couldn’t quite find myself caring about the main character and the scenes and dialogue felt a bit like riding in a speedboat: fast-paced, but a bit choppy.

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Lady Be Good -Book Review
February 22, 2018 / shereadsreviews / Edit

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Lady Be Good: A Novel by [Brock, Amber]

PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON HERE

Synopsis:

Kitty Tessler is the winsome and clever only child of self-made hotel and nightclub tycoon Nicolas Tessler. Kitty may not have the same pedigree as the tennis club set she admires, but she still sees herself as every inch the socialite–spending her days perfecting her “look” and her nights charming all the blue-blooded boys who frequent her father’s clubs. It seems like the fun will never end until Kitty’s father issues a terrible ultimatum: she may no longer date the idle rich. Instead, Kitty must marry Andre, her father’s second-in-command, and take her place as the First Lady of his hotel empire. Kitty is forced to come up with a wily and elaborate plan to protect her own lofty ideas for the future, as well as to save her best friend, Henrietta Bancroft, from a doomed engagement; Kitty will steal Henrietta’s fiancé, a fabulously wealthy but terribly unkind man from a powerful family–thereby delivering the one-two punch of securing her now-fragile place on the social ladder and keeping her friend from a miserable marriage.
Then Kitty meets Max, a member of a band visiting New York from her father’s Miami club, and her plans take a turn. Smitten, but still eager to convince her father of her commitment to Andre, Kitty and Hen follow Max, Andre, and the rest of the band back down to Miami–and later to Cuba. As Kitty spends more time with Max, she begins waking up to the beauty–and the injustice–of the world beyond her small, privileged corner of Manhattan. And when her well-intended yet manipulative efforts backfire, Kitty is forced to reconsider her choices and her future before she loses everyone she loves.
About the Author
AMBER BROCK teaches British literature at an all-girls’ school in Atlanta. She holds an MA from the University of Georgia and lives in Smyrna with her husband, also an English teacher, and their three rescue dogs.
My Thoughts:
I thought that this was a fun, quick read at first. It gave the chic-lit appearance within the first few chapters. However, it turned more serious as Kitty starts to see the world beyond her own nose.

Set in the 1950s, Lady Be Good marks Amber Brock’s mesmerizing return, sweeping readers into the world of the mischievous, status-obsessed daughter of a hotel magnate and the electric nightlife of three iconic cities: New York, Miami, and Havana.

I loved the 1950s setting, and the characters were well developed. I confess I didn’t really like Kitty all that much at first, but as she grew and realized more than what was in her perfect world, I liked her more and more. I recommend it!
You can Pre-order your copy on Amazon Here.
Lady Be Good: A Novel by [Brock, Amber]
I was given this book in exchange for my honest review from Netgalley. All opinions stated above are my own.
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Kind of a coming of age story or a learning of ones own self. Kitty is a rich girl but not accepted in what she believe to be the right circles (her grandparents were Russian immigrants). She wants nothing more than to be accepted. She comes up with a plan that leads her to meet new people along the way and question the way things are. Great book. Couldn’t put it down!