Ryan Flannigan is 10 years old when she is “discovered” in a café in NYC. Her mother, a struggling actress, becomes obsessed with Ryan’s career, insinuating herself as her daughter’s manager. But managing Ryan’s career doesn’t bring the two together…rather, Ryan finds herself on her own more and more. Things come to a head during the 1977 blackout in New York, when Ryan is left on her own, literally in the dark. Her missing mother returns a couple of days later with a story about getting lost in the chaos.

Many years later, a grown-up Ryan finds out that the FBI is looking for her mother with regard to a photo of Ryan that was taken the night of the blackout, which has been found in a known pedophile’s home. Ryan comes to the realization that her relationship with her mother has never been oriented toward her needs and she questions her instinct to protect her mother once again.

I really liked this book. It reminded me a bit of Lolita, especially when looking at the cover. The characters are interesting and nuanced, and are believable as big-city denizens living in an artsy community. I was drawn into the world of Ryan and her mother, as they first made their break into fame and then came into scandal. Their good friend Henri (the photographer) was also a compelling character and, although it seemed extreme, I could understand his taking his life for his art. The inclusion of ad campaigns that I remember from my youth (Love’s Baby Soft) added another layer to the story. I can remember buying Jean Nate and trying to “splash” it on myself like the woman in the commercial did. Between that and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific. I probably smelled like a walking cloud of perfume.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ryan Flannigan is a former child star (think Brooke Shields) who has moved on from stardom to a quiet life in Vermont raising her teenage daughter. When a controversial photograph of her as a child is found in the possession of a Jeffrey Epstein type, she is forced to confront her past.
This story goes back and forth between Ryan’s unconventional childhood in the seventies and her present day dilemma in 2019. As a child, her mother Fiona is an aspiring actress whose own career has failed to take off. Fiona lives vicariously through her daughter’s successful career while harboring envy towards her. As an adult, Ryan deals with learning difficult truths about the adults who failed her as a child.
This is a novel that explores the sexualization of young women and girls and how the conversation surrounding this topic has changed over the years. It’s also about how fame complicates an already fraught relationship between a mother and daughter. It’s well-written and feels authentic. I just wish it had been a little longer, I felt like it ended with unanswered questions.

A beautifully reflective and insightful if uncomfortable duel timeline read of a daughter's recollections of childhood and exploring if her mother was complicit in the actions of a billionaire paedophile. A knowing look at the risks and vulnerabilities of a child star in the 70's and 80's.
T. Greenwood is an immensely talented writer and this quiet and knowing novel is deeply engaging and thought provoking. Highly recommend,

(4.5 stars)
I enjoyed Such a Pretty Girl more than I thought I would. The author, T. Greenwood, writes in an engaging, easy-to-read way bringing to life a West Village artists residence in 1970s New York where the lead protagonists, Ryan Flannigan, grows up. Ryan is a child-actress living out the hopes and dreams of her artistically thwarted mother, Fiona Flannigan. She has an unusually beautiful face, described as a woman's face on a child's body.

Using shifts in chronology rather well, the author has the child Ryan recount the events that made up her childhood in the 1970s in some chapters, and the adult Ryan reexamine them in the present day, where she is now a mother to her own daughter, Sasha. The process of revisiting these memories combined with the media attention on a pedophile who was given an erotic photo of her by her mother slowly reveals that her childhood wasn't quite the artist's playground it first seemed.

What I really liked about this book is that it showed children experience neglect and child abuse through the veil of love. They love their parent regardless of their poor parenting skills because they don't have the context really to recognise how poor the parenting is at the time. It takes being an adult, or a parent yourself, or lots of therapy, to start to revisit their actions and see them more objectively after the veil of love has been damaged one-too-many times. It's hard not to also see a betrayal of the adults around Ryan at the time (in this case, Liliana) who later reveals that they understood it was neglect and abuse all along, but that Fiona was being the best mother she could be. This well-handled book reminds me of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, and I think it will stay with me for a while.

A really interesting concept. Ryan is a child star with a mom who missed her chance. This dynamic has created a weird celebrity persona. There's a strange pedophilia element based on a sexy photo of Ryan resurfacing as a minor.

Ultimately I DNF but I think it was just the wrong time for me to pick it up.

SUCH A PRETTY GIRL
BY: T GREENWOOD

"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know". --Diane Arbus

I have only read one other book by T. Greenwood and I had all I could do to get through it. It was called, "Rust & Stardust," and I didn't have the stomach to read it objectively because it was a historical fiction book that was based on the abduction of a real girl named Sally Horner. She was just a child and she steals something from Woolworths and a pedophile named Frank LaSalle, fresh out of prison gets her to go with him by pretending he is a police officer. It really happened in 1948 in Camden, New Jersey. What follows is his mental and physical assaults as they cross the Country. The only reason I tortured myself to finish it was because I owed a review having requested it. It was with much deliberation that I chose to try reading this new book called, "Such a Pretty Girl". This one was still difficult to read, but that is because this author is such a strong writer.

T. Greenwood writes powerfully in her newest novel called, "Such a Pretty Girl". It has a dual timeline that seamlessly comes together in this emotionally evocative novel mostly about a daughter's reconciling the fact about whether her mother was complicit in again--the subject of pedophilia, but this one also involves sex trafficking of young girls. This one I found highly addictive reading because I was kept in suspense about how far Ryan's (who is the narrator in both timelines) childhood was compromised by her selfish mother Fiona.

Ryan has not been back to New York City in forty years and has lived a safe life in an artist colony with her daughter, Sasha, who is now eighteen years old in Vermont. They are back in New York at the same apartment complex that Ryan had moved to when she was ten years old. Ryan and her daughter Sasha are there to attend a photographer's memorial service. It is thought that a gentle soul named, Henri most likely committed suicide when the press leaked the photograph of a ten year old Ryan that Henri took during a blackout in 1977. The photo shows a grown up face with a child's body. It was given to Fiona from her daughter Ryan inscribed to the sex trafficker by Fiona. Ryan has flashbacks of being a scared model and actress trying to please her critical mother.

This read like a mystery and T. Greenwood writes with how I equate Virginia Woolf's style with a stream of consciousness. The prose is intimate and beautifully reflective. I enjoyed this latest study in what constitutes a good mother from Ryan and Sasha's relationship versus Ryan and Fiona's relationship? How reliable are the roles that we assign to our caretakers? How other people who care for us as children can become more like family than those who are responsible for our creation? A character study as well as a mysterious plot. A novel that explores our closest relationships and signifies that we don't have to pass on to our children the traumas and neglect that we suffered as children ourselves. I am so grateful that I chose to try this author's work and was able to enjoy the novel even though it touches on what could be for some a triggering subject. This time I was able to remain more at a distance and this author is one I plan on seeking out her highly acclaimed other novels that I am hopeful I will appreciate as much as this one. T. Greenwood isn't afraid to mine the depths of issues that are deep and emotional and she is a very talented writer.

Publication Date: 10/25/2022

Thank you to Net Galley, T. Greenwood and Kensington Books Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#SuchaPrettyGirl #TGreenwood #KensingtonBooksPublishing #NetGalley

“ I’m not here to see my mother. I’m here to honor the life of my friends. To grieve with my makeshift family.”
Ryan a former childhood actress, with the stage mom of all stage moms, is living a quiet life in Vermont with her daughter.
She receives a phone call from her childhood friend Gilly telling her their photographer friend commits suicide after a risqué photo of Ryan is discovered in the hands of a pedophile.
Her mother is in hiding , her former modeling agent is involved, no one is telling any truths, the FBI is questioning people and Ryan is searching for long overdue answers.
This book goes back and forth between current day and the 70’s
This is my second book by this author and I definitely need a good binge read of all previous and upcoming books. These are not easy subjects but definitely ones that need a light shined on them !

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Kensington Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

An emotional story riddled with sadness. A dark tale about being victimized and traumatized.

Extremely perfectly told story. This is a timely novel about a girl who is victimized. While incredibly sad and dark it absolutely is transfixing to read. Main character she’s like somebody you know. I would absolutely recommend this book.