Reviewed by Emma Crowley
The world is at war, but on the gilded streets of Fifth Avenue, New York, a battle of a different kind is brewing…
New York, 1915.
Elizabeth Arden has been New York’s golden girl since her beauty salon opened its famous red door five years prior. Against all odds, she’s built an empire.
Enter Helena Rubinstein: ruthless, revolutionary – and the rival Elizabeth didn’t bargain for.
With both women determined to succeed – no matter the personal cost – a battle of beauty is born. And as the stakes increase, so do the methods: poaching employees, planting spies, copying products, hiring ex-husbands.
But as each woman climbs higher, so too does what she stands to lose.
Because the greater the height, the harder the fall…
Many thanks to Avon Books UK via NetGalley for my copy of A Beautiful Rival to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Gill Paul takes us into the glamorous yet at times ruthless world of the beauty industry in her new book, A Beautiful Rival. This is a novel of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, two powerhouses who took the cosmetics industry by storm in the early 1920’s and whose products are still sold to this day. The title is a brilliant play on words and its significance increases the further the book progresses as the intensity of the rivalry between the pair grows stronger as the years pass by. A fascinating, detailed and in-depth insight is provided as both women are determined to succeed and rise to the top in their chosen profession.
Both women came from nothing and hid many secrets as to their backgrounds with plenty of lies along the way but their sheer ambition, creativity, drive and competitive streaks see the two women battle out for decades. I love how Gill Paul always takes world famous people from history and weaves wonderful stories told through a mixture of fact and fiction. On several occasions I found myself pausing reading to check out little details about Elizabeth or Helena to see what was true or not and basically to discover more about them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I love how Gill can take people that we may have heard of but not know much about and bring their stories to life between the pages of her excellent books.
Each chapter alternates between Elizabeth and Helena and they never meet except on one or two occasions and I think this only added to the tension that existed between them and the sense of rivalry was able to increase in this manner too. The two stories run concurrently but it never felt like I was reading two separate stories within one book as the changing between perspectives flowed so well and just felt effortless. Initially, I was waiting for that point when the two would come face to face and I did hope that this would happen regularly but as Gill says in her authors notes she had no evidence as to whether the women actually met. I swayed back and forth many times as to which character I preferred but in the end I think Helena won out as I think she had a slightly more softer side to her and a lot of her ruthlessness was because of the actions of Elizabeth.
The book opens in 1915 and takes us up to the war years and beyond. Elizabeth is the founder and sole owner of America’s most successful beauty brand but there is a new person on the block, Helena. Elizabeth feels threatened by her growing success. She had hauled herself up from poverty and wishes no one to muscle in on her success. There is always a lingering fear within her that no matter how much money she makes or how well her products and beauty salons do that it could all be snatched away from her. It’s this fear that is her driving force and she has a tough outer exterior especially when it comes to her business dealings. I found her to be brusque, relentless and harsh in her quest to be the best. She always wanted to be one step ahead of Helena and I suppose in any industry this is the case when you are selling and promoting the same product but she just seemed to always go that extra mile. Underhand dealings were not uncommon.
I loved all the little details about sending spies into each other’s camps and trying to produce treatments, lotions and makeup that would change a woman’s life. Elizabeth was known for bouncing those who didn’t meet her exacting standards when it came to business and she kept strict rules and regulations as no way was she going to let Helena outstrip her in the race to be America and indeed the worlds number one. I found it absolutely fascinating to see how both companies started from the ground up especially as now we know how successful they became. The research undertaken by the author was impeccable and I could tell she enjoyed learning so much about two phenomenal women who were pioneers of their generation. For all Elizabeth’s bravado she was desperately lonely. She didn’t come across as the maternal type at all but the story does detail the two marriages she goes through but in the later half of the book I think her love of horses took over and they gave her what she had been missing in her life.
I think Helena was my favourite character. She was originally from Poland and was Jewish and although she didn’t come from abject poverty like Elizabeth. The details of how she came to the beauty industry and her studies were really interesting and I think the incident with her father really spurred her on to make the best of herself. Unlike Elizabeth, Helena married and had two children but she wasn’t a very conventional mother and nor would I say was her marriage to Edward either. Helena was born competitive and she was well able to play Elizabeth at her game and I think she enjoyed this as the rivalry inspired her to keep going when times were tough and it added a slightly playful element to her business dealings. At times, it did feel as if she was running in second place to the Arden company but she always seemed to pull the cat out of the bag and jump ahead of her.
Both women played back and forth with each other always wanting to be the one who has the most beauty salons or the newest innovations when it came to beauty care. The insights into her private life added extra drama to the overall plot and I felt this really came to the fore during World War Two. Her Jewish heritage became more apparent and what happened her family members at this time was an important element to include in the story. I don’t think either woman truly realised what similarities they had in their personal lives and perhaps if they did they would have been a little bit more lenient with each other when it came to business tactics but these comparisons became ever more evident the further I delved into the story.
A Beautiful Rival has an exceptional sense of time and place. I felt like I was there with both women as they navigated the changing tides of the beauty industry. So many changes in society were detailed right from the roaring twenties to the horrific years of World War Two. The world changed and the two women did the same with their products to meet the new demands of their customers. There is lots of betrayal, scandal, bitterness, antagonism and jealousy between the covers of this page and that’s what makes it a brilliant and interesting read. As soon as I finished I was wondering who Gill Paul will turn her attentions to next. I can’t wait to find out.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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