Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book! There were portions I loved - any book set in a literary-focused world and with a vocab that has me learning new words is a win for me, but admittedly there were times it seemed a bit forced. I felt like there were side characters whose stories seemed disconnected from the central plot. I enjoyed the exploration of women’s rights and the themes of strong women and the power in finding a community that supports one another.

I seem to be in the minority, but I was not a big fan of this book. I found the main character to be pretentious and the chapters from her dog’s perspective felt out of place. I’ve frequently seen this book compared to Lessons in Chemistry and find that quite apt, as I didn’t care for that either but it was widely loved.

New York - 1963

Bernadette Swift is the only female copy editor at Lenox and Park Publishing, yet her boss, Mr. Wall, thinks of her as his maid. He piles more work on her than the other (male) copy editors and expects her to make coffee for everyone even though his secretary sits with nothing to do. the other men in the office often play pranks on her as well. Bernadette is determined to become the first CEO of the publishing company.

Graham Reynolds is an executive with the firm and is always pleasant to her. They sometimes run into one another when she sits on her favorite bench outside and eats her lunch. He tells her that there is an opening for Senior Copy Editor and she applies for it with Mr. Wall who tells her NO. But she persists and she agrees to give her the job temporarily and with it she gets even more piles of work.

Bernadette has a Great Dane dog named Frank. He loves her so much and works hard to protect her. We read what he’s thinking. Several of her neighbors love Frank and look out for him during the day.

At a book club meeting, a group of women discuss the things that women face that aren’t fair and they decide to call a rally to have everyone discuss what they need to do to solve these problems.

Oh my gosh! I loved, loved, loved this book! I started work in the 1960s timeframe and know how women were looked down upon and treated shabbily. I was amazed how Bernadette always kept her cool but stood up for herself. Men and women in the work place can be so ugly and catty. I have always been an avid stickler for things being perfectly written and enjoyed my times as the Red Pen Secretary marking correspondence to ensure it went out of the office letter perfect. Today, I’m retired and reading and reviewing is my passion so reading this book about copy editors was simply joyous. I hope readers will grab this book and enjoy every page as much as I did. Well done!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Bernadette Swift, a young copyeditor at Lenox & Park Publishing, is determined to become the first female CEO in the publishing industry. But first she needs to take the next step up that ladder with a promotion that her boorish and sexist boss wants to thwart. Seeking a base of support, Bernadette joins a feminist women’s book club at the New York Public Library, and soon, she’s inspiring her fellow members to challenge the male gatekeepers and decades of ingrained sexism in their workplaces and pursue their personal and professional dreams.

I enjoyed all the vocabulary in this one. Believe me, with a copy editor as a main character, you learn a great deal!

I also enjoyed the premise of this story. I love ambition and Bernadette has it in spades. And trust me when I tell you she deals with a lot of discrimination and misogynistic issues. People can be so cruel.

But, I am in the minority on this one. To me, this book is a hot mess. There are quite a few historical inaccuracies…and trust me, I never catch these. But these are a bit obvious. (Barista…in the 60s?) I also found Bernadette to be very inconsistent with her reactions. One minute I am amazed at her strength and the next I am wanting to pinch her head off for not showing enough strength. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️.

I was also not a big fan of one of the narrators. She was a bit overly dramatic. However, there is a cute dog in this book. And he made the whole story. The narrator did fantastic for this furball!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

If you enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry, you will love this book!

Set in the publishing world in the 1960s, we follow Bernadette and her desire to run a publishing house one day. However, she has to get past the misogynist men of that time, especially her boss, Mr. Wall.

This book flew by! I was engrossed in Bernadette's life, her Great Dane Frank, seeking women's rights, and so much more. I rooted for Bernadette on every page. I loved her usage of the English language. She was not afraid to use words we may not use every day. She was proud of her copy editing skills, and who can blame her? Editing is hard work, ensuring that the right words and phrases are used, not to mention that the sentences make sense. I love that her red pencils have a B on them for Queen B.

The men portrayed in this novel are typical of this time period. However, not all men wanted to keep the women at home in the kitchen. There are a few good men sprinkled throughout. I also thought it was interesting when she learned something about her mom's ambitions when she was younger. You can't keep a good woman down for long.

There are chapters from Frank's perspective that are sweet. He cared for his girl, Bernadette, and others in the neighborhood. He is an intelligent dog. He loved ripping up paper, too. He has a code word for when it is okay to shred whatever paper is given to him.

There is an epilogue that brings everything together in the present day. It was intriguing to read and ponder how these women charted their path in life.

We give this book 5 paws up.

I love to read about women paving the way for other women. Bernadette is an admirable and inspiring main character, with much more patience and perseverance than I would have ever had if placed in her shoes. It gives Lessons in Chemistry vibes but in the publishing world.

The chapters from Frank’s POV were adorable and brought some much needed levity to the novel. They were my favorite chapters.

This was overall an enjoyable read, but it felt like something was missing. Perhaps it was the pacing of the plot. I think the subplot with her brother in the war could have played a more significant part of the book perhaps? It felt disjointed and unconnected and I really didn’t feel emotionally attached to what happened to her brother.

Thank you to SourceBooks and NetGalley for the ARC.

Bernadette Swift is a word nerd. As a kid, she would read the dictionary. Now she’s a college graduate and working as a copyeditor for Lenox & Park Publishing. She has the skills and the determination to make it to the top of her profession. There is just one problem. It’s the 1960s in America, and women are treated like second-class citizens in much of daily life. So her boss and her coworkers, all men, expect her to make them coffee and take their shirts to the dry cleaners after they spill that coffee on themselves. All while doing her editing work.

But she’s not alone in New York City. She has friends and good neighbors, and her roommate Frank looks out for her. Frank is a Great Dane, from her brother Ben. Ben is serving in the military, and is currently in Vietnam, so Bernadette worries about him and send him treats once in a while. But while he is gone, Frank takes good care of Bernadette, making sure she gets walks and laughs.

But the world is harsh for a working woman. She is paid significantly less than her male coworkers, she is given more work, and she is not invited out when the rest of the boys spend the evening out drinking. Bernadette is okay with that. She has Frank, of course, and her feminist book club. And she finds herself bumping into another editor, Graham Reynolds But Graham isn’t like the other men in the office. He doesn’t expect her to run random errands for him and objects when her boss does. He respects her work and appreciates her as a person.

Bernadette understands that she has to work harder than the men in the office, but she does, and she’s offered a promotion. A temporary promotion. But when her boss propositions her to make the promotion permanent, Bernadette takes a stand. Or she tries to. She reports him to Personnel, but the man there she reported him to refuses to do anything. So she does the next best thing and tries to bring together the working women in New York City to make a stand.

Confessions of a Grammar Queen brings together the feminist movement of the 1960s and the New York publishing industry of that time to create a story that is humorous and resonant at the same time. Bernadette is a strong character who is making her way in a difficult time, but she does it with the support of friends and family and a scene-stealing dog.

I really enjoyed this novel. I loved the insider publishing knowledge, and having historic events from the ‘60s woven into the narrative brought the time to life. But it was Frank who is the best part of the book. Not only does he steal every scene he’s in, especially when he has the zoomies, but he steals all the hearts as well. And some of the chapters are told from his perspective, adding an unexpected voice to the story. And the romance is sweet, making this a hit on every level.

Egalleys for Confessions of a Grammar Queen were provided by Sourcebooks Landmark through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.

I enjoyed reading Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

This was a lovely, light, feminist novel about a woman trying to work and succeed in the publishing industry in the early 1960s. Others have compared it to Lessons in Chemistry, but I find it much closer in tone to Marie Bostwick’s recent novel, The Bookclub for Troublesome Women. It’s all about women finding strength from books and each other as they try to find a role for themselves outside the home.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was delighted for a chance to read and review “Confessions of a Grammar Queen” by Eliza Knight which gives the reader a glimpse of what it’s like to be a women working in the 1960’s publishing world.

Savvy Bernadette Swift dreams of being the CEO of the publishing house where she currently works as a copy editor. However, her boss is a chauvinistic jerk, ready to block every step she takes toward success.

I am a dog lover so appreciated the chapters that gave us the POV of Frank the doggy that our protagonist was caring for while his owner, her brother, was fighting in Vietnam. It’s because this novel captures the chaos and tension of the sixties era that it stands a cut above a lot of the summer fiction being released this summer.

Thanks to Net Galley, Eliza Knight and the publisher for a chance to read and review this captivating book.

Been a minute since I posted@about a book, but this one is worth a plug. Confessions of a Grammar Queen by @elizaknightfiction @sourcebookscasa Indeed this witty and timely novel is full of big words. It’s the mid 1960s and Bernadette Swift is maneuvering a career in the male dominated world of publishing. She is championed by a senior colleague who convinces her to step and and grab a promotion she well deserves. Along the way she battles male chauvinism and sexual harassing. When she joins a feminist book@club she finally finds her people. I was rooting for Bernadette from the get go. #TheConfessionsOfAGrammarQueen and #ElizaKnight

I loved Confessions Of a Grammar Queen.Historical fiction at its best hysterically funny.The chapters in the dogs voice had tears rolling down my face. A perfect vacation read.#NetGalley #sourcebooks

4.5 stars for this great read for those who loved Lessons in Chemistry. A single editor and her dog take on the publishing world in the 1960s! A little bit of rebellion, a little bit of protest, and a whole lot of being better at the job than their male managers, this book could probably be placed in today's office as well, despite supposed equal rights. I loved how Frank, the dog, gets his own chapters. I love the tie-in with the politics of the times. This really added to the depth of the story. Just as Bernadette straddles the line between a perfectly put together woman and an ardent fighter of her own rights, this book straddles the line between a fluffy beach read and a deep intense thought provoking novel. I think it would be perfect reading anytime!

Historical fiction set in NYC in the 1960s. Bernadette is a driven copy editor who wants to move forward in her career and faces all the misogyny and sexism of the times. Her giant dog also is a main character. It felt a little too much like another book I had read for me to really enjoy it. There are some good girl power moments though!

I loved this this book! It's so hilarious that Frank- the dog- has its very own chapters. The main character Bernadette is a hoot too. I would have loved to meet her and help her out making it in the world of publishing. My own forays into the male dominated sphere of editing were a lot less heroic-a sign of the times!.

Sorry but the whole dog POV chapters were a bit unnecessary and threw me off. I ended up
DNFing because of that

Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight is a very, very good book that I enjoyed reading. The title is a take on the fact that Bernadette Swift, the main character, is a copy editior who spends her days correcting grammar in soon to be published manuscripts. The book is set in the 1960's at the start of the women's liberation movement and Bernadette gets involved in the fight for women's rights along with her friends and co-workers. While the fight for women's rights was - and still is - a serious cause, this book is not a deep dive into the movement. We read of Bernadette's struggles with men at work but we also read about her everyday life as a young, single, working woman in New York City during that time period. Bernadette is a very likeable character whether she's with female friends, her elderly neighbor, or her family.. The book also includes a budding romance with an amazing guy, and her loyal dog, Frank. For a fun twist we periodically get a chapter here and there written from the perspective of Frank, the dog. I whole-heartedly recommend this book. I give it 4.5 because it was SO good but it was not a "WOW" book - it is perfect when looking for an easy pleasant read. I received an ARC from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

I was hooked from the beginning!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

Set in the 1960's, Bernadette Swift is intent on working her way up the ranks, first as the first ever female copyeditor at Lenox & Park Publishing, next stop the first female CEO in the publishing industry! However, she has an office full of childish men and one sexist boss to contend with if she is ever going to make it anywhere. Bernadette joins a feminist women's book club at the New York Public Library, and soon, she's inspiring her fellow members to challenge the male gatekeepers and decades of ingrained sexism in their workplaces and pursue their personal and professional dreams. While keeping her eye on the prize, empowering other women, trying to thwart her co-workers' attempts at sabotage, fend off her boss's boorish overtures, & spending time with her dog Frank, she spends what little time she has left dreaming about a a certain charismatic editor at Lenox & Park who has completely fallen for her, And it is only Monday......

I adored this book. Bernadette, with her glittery headbands, and way with words, worked her way right into my heart. Her brother was off fighting in Vietnam, and Frank was formerly his dog. Frank was delightful.... from the way he lifted the window to their apartment and made the rounds after she left for work and then shut it again when he returned so she was none the wiser, to the zoomies he got, to the fact that he loved shredding paper so much Bernadette had to come up with a code name to let him know when it was paper that was ok to shred. I loved Bernadette & Graham's budding romance, and I also loved how inspiring she could be. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with. This book kept me laughing. Told in the alternating voices of Bernadette & Frank,, this story is so much much. I especially loved Frank's viewpoint on things! I highly rcommend this one.

#bookreview
“Books had always brought her solace, making the library her metaphorical comfortable chair at the heart of Manhattan. Comfort: from Latin confortare, which also means to strengthen. Essentially, the library made her stronger.”
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It’s the 1960s. Bernadette Swift is a talented copy editor at a renowned publishing firm, yet part of her job inexplicably involves dry cleaning her boss’s shirt. Why? It’s evident—it’s because she is a woman.
Now, Bernadette’s life could have taken a simpler path had she kept her head down, worn her pantyhose correctly, and played coy in response to her boss’s inappropriate advances. After all, he only touched her leg! What’s the fuss about?
But that is not how legends are made. Bernadette Swift has had enough!
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Confessions of a Grammar Queen by @elizaknightfiction is a powerful read, cleverly disguised as a delightful journey into the world of women’s movements.
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The writing is punchy, engaging, and fun. The characters are well-developed, embodying the right temperaments for this story—a strong battle of wit and morality with repulsiveness.
The narrative also weaves Bernadette’s backstory in fragments, adding depth and insight.
The intertwined love story is beautifully conveyed, feeling authentic and bringing a smile to your face throughout.
Frank, the loyal and caring Great Dane, is simply adorable. (Life is good when the perspective is pure.)
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Lastly, this book conveys two significant messages: First, to quote Oprah, “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”
And, second, a person’s success is not solely based on their own strengths but also on the strengths of their support systems. It’s never just one person’s achievement. There are always individuals who believe in that person’s brilliance, and together they take bold steps towards advancement.
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I found the epilogue to be very moving, providing a beautiful conclusion to the story.
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it. 🖤🖤🖤🖤
#releasingtomorrow