Thanks to net galley and the publishers for an advanced ecopy in exchange for a review.
This is a story set in the Hollywood hills full of glitz, glamour , secrets and friendships .
We begin in the summer of 75 meeting Lane a writer who begins a friendship with Gala a socialite on the scene. The book delves in the relationships and friendships of the characters hidden behind the partying is a murkier world of drugs and partying too hard. This was a very enjoyable read and I will be recommending

Picture Girl, Interrupted vibes meets 1960s Laurel Canyon.. the tale of two writer frenemies, one fading star and one wild socialite, whose friendship unravels when betrayal strikes and one mysteriously disappears. It’s lush, tense, and drenched in artistic ambition and Californian glitter, with a slow burn that pulls you into the drama.

I was so immersed in this story from the very beginning.

Lane is a talented young writer who has had glittering success in New York and heads to L.A. to write her novel. At a party she has a brief encounter with Gala, a party girl, socialite with talents of her own. Lane who is quiet and introspective, is drawn to Gala’s enigmatic and glittering personality from their first encounter.

The book begins 10 years later. Lane is searching for the success of her earlier career and decides to write a book based on Gala.

The timelines shift between the present and the past. In the present, Gala is missing and Lane is becoming increasingly erratic in her search to find her. Lane is also coping with motherhood, marriage and her writing. In the past, the scenes of their careers and relationships piece together a picture of two complex and brilliant women.

This book is so atmospheric. It was Daisy Jones-like in its ability to transport me to L.A. in the late 1960s and 70s. The parties at Laurel Canyon are described to make you feel the juxtaposition between the hedonistic fun and despair and loneliness.

Lane is such a complex character. People are drawn to enigmatic personality and sharp wit, but she is deeply insecure about her writing. After her initial success, she has struggled to receive similar critical acclaim. Her complex relationship with her own childhood is having a profound effect on her own experience of motherhood. Having fought to find her place in the literary world, she finds the domestic sphere stiffling.

Gala has also had to create her own space and reputation where she is not reduced to a groupie, a fading It-girl who is dismissed as irrelevant. The competition between them is both a driving force and a destructive one.

Neither Lane or Gala are traditional likeable characters. They feel deeply, are introspective and often selfish. Nevertheless, they make compelling reading, and the cinematic quality of the writing leaves you thinking about them and their lives long after the last page.

Thank you to NetGalley for my gifted digital copy of L. A. Women.

"L.A. Women" takes you on a deep dive into the wild and complicated friendship between two very different women writers in 1960s and ’70s Los Angeles. Lane is reserved and struggling with her past, while Gala is this wild, free spirit always chasing the next party. The story flips between two timelines, slowly unveiling their rivalry, ambitions, and secrets. It’s a raw, atmospheric read full of emotions, love, jealousy, and tough truths about womanhood and creativity. Sometimes slow, but totally worth it for anyone who digs complex friendships and vintage L.A. vibes.

This book was all about the vibes for me. It made me feel like I had been transported to the 60s/70s and experienced the good the bad and the ugly of those decades.

The friendship between Lane and Gala was the main focus of the book which was riddled with complications and to be honest calling it a friendship was a stretch. However for all the differences and sharp edges that existed between these two women, there was something that bonded them emotionally and I think it was that they were two women existing in a time and place that wasn't easy for either of them. I didn't particularly like either of these women, but I was able to empathise with both of them and understand their struggle.

It grieves me to call a book set in the 60s and 70s historical fiction, but I guess I'm just old now. Will this be a book that I think about for the rest of my life? Probably not. But I had a good time with it and there was definitely something engaging about it.

I found this book thoughtful, sharp, and quietly intense: it explores ambition, friendship, and identity with honesty and depth. The writing is smooth, the emotions real, and the story lingers long after.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a portrayal of a complex relationship between two ambitious L.A. Women, Lane Warren and Gala Margolis, in the 1960's and 70's. While the two could not be more different, their paths cross constantly in the LA scene and an unlikely friendship of sorts develops. Both writers, both competing for the limelight and wanting to be remembered. Then one day Gala is missing and months later no one has seen her.
I thoroughly enjoyed the different timelines in this and both the main and supporting characters, all weaving a compelling tale of friendships, betrayal, lies and deceit. The party scene, ups and downs of their separate lives and the tragedies that play out were fascinating. There were so many elements of this book I loved, some that I can't name saved for spoilers. It is one I highly recommend. 4.5*

‘LA Women’ by Ella Berman is a slow burn historical fiction novel chronicling the complex friendship and messy artistic relationship between two women in retro LA. Told across two timelines which describe Lane and Gala’s closeness in the 60s and estrangement in the 70s, this book has a gorgeous cover, and the glamorous setting to match.

I enjoyed how this novel explored the extent to which journalistic writing is dishonest and exploitative, and how it delved into the media and gender politics of the era. I also found Lane to be a likeable character, despite her flaws and a strong narrator.

However, I did find the pace a little too languid for for me - while all the vibes were present in abundance (I thought a lot about the movie sets of ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’) - it lacked the captivating plot development of some of my favourite pieces of historical fiction. Overall, this gets 3.5 stars from me!

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Aria & Aries via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Lane is a published author, mother of two and married living a life most dream of but she finds herself drawn to the past and her memories of Gala. A friend maybe but someone who shaped her early years in Hollywood. A troubled soul but with a chance at fame and success leading to envy in Lane and a bad decison.

This was an interesting concept and at times it was really good but it was a bit of a slow pacing. I enjoyed it but I can't say I was wowed by it. The plot was easy to follow though jumps around between the past the present for the book setting. We also see it from both women and a little from other characters too adding to the depth. The ending was clever and finished the story off nicely. No one is overly likeable but again that works for the story. An interesting read.

Los Angeles, 1965. Lane Warren moves from New York in order to work on her first novel. As she tries to acclimatise to her new home, she begins to attend parties in the Hollywood Hills. It is there that she first meets Gala Margolis, a free spirit who seems to know everyone. The two are never best friends but they are drawn to one another and develop a friendship. As Gala’s literary star begins to rise, Lane is offered a book deal to write about their friendship. As the months go by, Lane feels deep guilt about writing the book, leading to a search for her friend that will uncover dark and shocking secrets…

Seductive, bold, mysterious and suspenseful, L. A. Women is a slow-burning story about friendship, rivalry, jealousy and betrayal. Set in L.A. during the 60s and 70s, Ella Berman brings the city and its Laurel Canyon music and art scene to life in vivid technicolour. It is these alcohol and drug-fuelled parties that serve as a backdrop for the story and the friendship between our two central characters, Lane and Gala. These women are fantastic characters. Richly drawn and compelling, they were fun to read, had me invested in their lives and pulled me into their glamorous but murky world. While both are ambitious writers trying to make a name for themselves in a male-dominated industry, that is where their similarities end. Lane is quieter, more reserved and barely drinks, while Gala is the bawdy, flirty and wild party girl. Their relationship is toxic from the start and I’d call them more frenemies than friends, having a years-long rivalry that leaves a trail of destruction in both their lives.

Twist-filled, surprising, and full of the ups and downs life brings, this is a book that takes you through every emotion as Berman explores topics such as homophobia, reproductive rights, addiction, marriage, motherhood and fame. Gala’s disappearance also hangs over the story from the start, giving the whole book an air of mystery, foreboding and a ton of questions I needed to know the answers to. Central to the story is Lane’s book about Gala, which is intricately interwoven with not only Gala’s disappearance, but also Lane’s inner fears of failure. She is wracked with guilt and remorse and worried that by writing the book she’s using Gala just as so many others have done. Gala haunts her wherever she goes and nothing she writes is working. So, she decides to find her, but is unprepared for the life-changing revelations she will uncover.

An atmospheric and thought-provoking read.

This is a quietly compelling novel that explores female identity, decadence and creative ambition in 1960’s and 1970’s Los Angeles. The story runs on two timelines.

At its core is an uneasy relationship between Lane and Gala, who are best described as frenemies. While Lane is a restrained observer and Gala is an untethered hedonist, they both come across as highly ego-centric, which isn’t necessarily a positive advertisement of LA culture!

The book interrogates control, who has it, who loses it, and how women can be punished either way. Lane constructs a life devoid of intimacy: a marriage of convenience, a wedding of strangers and children largely raised by a nanny. Gala, by contrast, devours the world through drugs, sex, and partying. Both women are shaped by their parent’s emotional absence, which haunts them in different ways. While Lane is almost an impostor in her own life, Gala questions if she earned her writing gigs due to her fun reputation for ‘glitter, grit and blow jobs’ or for her talent.

Impostor syndrome, the emptiness of the fame trap, and a sense of belonging are themes that thread through the story. The characters are not particularly likable, it can be slow paced and perhaps longer than it needs to be, but this novel did grow on me, and I enjoyed it.

A slow starter, but I persevered. The story, divided between 1965/66 and 1975/76, follows the lives of two women – would be writer Gala Margolis and published writer Lane Warren, who live in LA. Lane is married to Scotty and they have two children. Gala is a party girl, unattached, doesn’t give a damn about anyone and is all about number one. Although they are friends, Gala is unreliable, is easily distracted, and has on occasions lets Lane down if a better offer comes along.
I didn’t really take to either character, although with Lane’s backstory, it was perhaps easier to understand with her childhood experiences, how she had become the way she was. By the time the story reaches the mid-seventies, Lane’s house is the place where the party crowd love to come. A place where champagne and drugs are available in plentiful supply. However, the crowd are clearly a superficial lot, keen to be seen with the right people.
Gala is the kind of character I would ditch in a heartbeat. Thoroughly undeserving of friendship. It’s clear both women are unhappy, with Lane having all the trappings of success – an established writing career (although in the 1970s, she seems to have hit a brick wall and is suffering from writer’s block). She has a good-looking husband, children and a fabulous home, but sometimes it’s clear it’s not enough. This is the second book I have read by Ella Berman and I love the way she manages to get under the skin of her characters and bring out all their faults and imperfections.
If there was one redeeming character, it was Charlie McCloud. He was definitely one of the good guys. He walks a tight rope with regard to his sexuality at a time when society was not as open as it is today. However, he works to help others and is supportive to both Gala and Lane, although sometimes it can be exasperating, especially when they are clearly in quite intense competition regarding their writing.
Although in the beginning the pace is slow, it does eventually pick up and turns into an interesting read.

I would like to thank Aria, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of LA Women in exchange for an honest review.

A slowburn introspective look at a complex friendships between two women in the 60s and 70s perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid when it comes to writerly tone, and girlies obsessed with the Babitz/Didion dynamic.

Well... I did finish this book, but it did take me longer than usual and I wasn't as keen on picking it up at every opportunity, mainly as I completely failed to connect to any of the main characters and found the pacing to be far too slow for me.
We start in the 70s with Lane Warren who is writing a new book, supposedly about the life of her frenemy Gala Margolis. But she is keeping it on the down low, for many reasons, but probably mainly cos at the time we start the story, Gala has been missing for months.
We then go back in time to the 60s to follow both Lane and Gala as their lives intersect and then meander around each other and they are repetitively draw back together. How decisions they make affect the other and eventually, how one major decision Lane makes changes both their lives...
As already mentioned this book was oh so slow. It took absolutely ages to get anywhere, the two main characters meandering around and about each other but at the same time not really going anywhere. Even flitting between the two timelines didn't progress the narrative enough for me. That said, I am glad that I persevered and eventually got to the end, but I do fear that maybe the book could lose a few readers along the way.
Apparently, and I found this out after finishing, the story contained herein mirrors that of real life people. If you know, you know, and if you don't it probably won't hurt you not knowing. If that makes sense.
What I did like is the toxicity of the relationship between the two women. And the fact that even though they were as chalk and cheese as you can get, they still attracted each other as moths to the flame. It didn't help that they also made some way bad choices along the way that I actually thought were beneath them and somewhat out of character and, and I have to be brutal here, I actually really hated Charlie.
Being a very character driven novel and with characters that I failed to connect with properly, we were on a hiding to nothing, and never going to have fun. But I did finish and it was well written, and did end well. But overall I definitely prefer her previous book The Comeback, and I will be looking out for her next book. Just this one obviously wasn't for me.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped. I couldn't connect to the characters but I did finish it as I was intrigued how it would end.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this as much as I wished, considering i adored the comeback. Something about it just...fell flat for me

This novel is described as electrifying and that is definitely an apt description. Once I started I could not put this book down.

Definitely highly recommended

3.85 stars

L.A. Women by Ella Berman is a character-driven novel set in 1960s and 1970s Los Angeles, centered on the complicated and often toxic relationship between two female writers. Lane Warren is a once-successful author trying to reclaim her career. Gala Margolis is a charismatic, free-spirited socialite who has mysteriously gone missing.

The story alternates between the past, starting in 1965, and the present, in 1975. It explores the evolution of their connection, which teeters between rivalry and fascination. Though never true friends, Lane and Gala are drawn to each other by ambition and artistic desire, even as jealousy and self-interest drive them apart. Lane secures a new book deal based on Gala’s life, despite Gala’s disappearance and their fractured past.

Set against the backdrop of iconic Hollywood landmarks such as Laurel Canyon, the Chateau Marmont and the Troubadour, the novel paints a vivid picture of a glamorous but shallow scene driven by fame, addiction and manipulation. Lane and Gala are often seen as deeply flawed and unlikeable, but their emotional complexity is part of what makes the story engrossing. Charlie McCloud, Lane’s closeted gay friend and Hollywood fixer, adds an empathetic counterpoint.

The novel is more introspective than plot-heavy, focusing on ambition, motherhood, friendship and identity through a sharply observational lens. While the nonlinear structure sometimes lacks smooth transitions, the ending was noted as particularly strong.

LA Women tells the story of a complicated friendship between Type A, writer Lane and larger-than-life, party girl Gala. Lane is disturbed when Gala suddenly goes missing. The novel runs on two timelines to explore the events of their unlikely friendship and Lane’s determination to find out what happened to Gala.

Having read a few of Ella Berman’s books, one of my favourite things is the rich, nostalgic tone. It’s a tone that is similar to Taylor Jenkins Reed’s books, so I think fans of her will like this author if you haven’t read her before. I enjoyed the plot and the clash of the high paced and sometimes LA rock ‘n’ roll/celeb style with the softer feeling of nostalgia, with references to Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra.

However, I did struggle with Gala and Lane’s friendship. I appreciate the opposites attract principle and the ‘frenemy’ trope, but I didn’t quite buy into Lane’s devotion to finding her friend based on the interactions between the characters in the ‘throw-back’ scenes. I felt like there was a vulnerability missing between the characters that fuelled Lane’s desire to find Gala.

Overall, I enjoyed but not my favourite of Ella Berman’s work.

I really struggled to connect to the characters in this book. They got on my nerves, and it is really important for me to connect to the characters. It ended up affecting the way I perceived my thoughts on this book. Liked it but couldn't say I loved it.