The Gilded Age Girls Club
By
Maya Rodale
June 18, 2019
Avon
Mass Market
Fiction / Romance / Historical
(American/Victorian)
$7.99 USD, $10.99 CAD, £6.99 GBP
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Theodore Prescott the Third, one of Manhattan’s Rogues of
Millionaire Row, has really done it this time. The only way to survive his most
recent, unspeakably outrageous scandal is marry someone respectable. Someone
sensible. Someone like Daisy Swann. Of all the girls in Gilded Age Manhattan,
it had to be her.
Pretending to be lovers...
Daisy Swann has plans and they do not involve a loveless
marriage with anyone. But when a devastating family secret threatens to destroy
her standing in society, suddenly a fake engagement with Theo is just the thing
to make all her dreams come true.
And now it’s time to kiss and make up…
Daisy Swann aspires to sell cosmetics that she has created, but
this brainy scientist needs a smooth talking charmer’s flair for words and eye
for beauty to make it a success. Before long, Daisy and Theo are trading
kisses. And secrets. And discovering that despite appearances, they might be
the perfect couple after all.
A huge, dynamite full 5 Teacups for Some Like It Scandalous, the
newest in Maya Rodale’s The Gilded Age Girls Club! This book kept me up until
the wee hours of the morning, I absolutely loved it!
We start off with a flashback to Central Park, New York 1883,
our heroine, Daisy Swann’s childhood where her book is snatched from her hands
by none-other-than Theodore Prescott the Third, as he grabs her book she falls backward
into the swampy pond amidst scum and the quacking of the ducks. He begins
calling her Ugly Duck Daisy, which stuck with her through the years. Now in
1895 Daisy is grown up and she is summoned by her mother where she is informed
that she is to marry, to her horror, none-other-than Theodore Prescott the
Third. She is aghast and refuses to marry him. Her mother informs her of the
scandal pending but does not give her any details, all Daisy knows is she must
do something to save her family and provide for herself. Daisy has had her
heart set on becoming a spinster and making a great success at selling her
facial cream, which is the only real beauty she has her soft, luscious
complexion. Well, she runs out into the rain to the park where she runs
literally into Theodore.
He too has been informed that his wayward ways and days gallivanting about the city, causing scandal after scandal, will come to an end when he marries Daisy (Ugly Duck Daisy) Swann. He too is aghast and refuses the marriage and off he goes into the park where he encounters none-other-than Ugly Duck Daisy. Here, dripping wet from the rain, they seek shelter in a gazebo and both express their disgust for the other, they both hate one another and neither wants to get married. Daisy comes up with a plan but Theodore will hear nothing of it, so off Daisy goes. It isn’t until Theo finds he’s locked out of his Men’s Club that he goes back to Daisy and takes her up on her offer. They fake their engagement.
He too has been informed that his wayward ways and days gallivanting about the city, causing scandal after scandal, will come to an end when he marries Daisy (Ugly Duck Daisy) Swann. He too is aghast and refuses the marriage and off he goes into the park where he encounters none-other-than Ugly Duck Daisy. Here, dripping wet from the rain, they seek shelter in a gazebo and both express their disgust for the other, they both hate one another and neither wants to get married. Daisy comes up with a plan but Theodore will hear nothing of it, so off Daisy goes. It isn’t until Theo finds he’s locked out of his Men’s Club that he goes back to Daisy and takes her up on her offer. They fake their engagement.
Throughout the rest of the tail, we are met with a lot of tension
between the two as well as a lot of sparks and love blossoming. We also learn
some truths to each of their pasts’ and some hidden talents. Theo learns of
Daisy’s experiments in making her facial cream and he helps her enhance it; by
purchasing a store and finding just the perfect containers to put it in as well
as the most perfect name, but dear readers’ you must read the tale to find out
what its name is and how this all unfolds. All I can tell you is you will
absolutely love this tale and both Theo and Daisy will touch your heart!
One thing I love most about Daisy is her strong drive for
independence and success, it isn’t just about making money but about helping
women. We learn in this tale some amazing historical facts: during this time
period makeup was not worn by a respectable lady, it was for actresses or
worse, prostitutes, a Lady never would wear such a thing. So, in our tale, Daisy,
with the help of Theo comes up with some really clever ways of selling her
product. We see such a change in both our H and h, but most importantly Daisy,
she challenges the rules of the day and takes them on and in fact, begins to
change them. I feel many women of today will be able to relate to Daisy for we
are still fighting for our rights and fighting against the norms and rules
placed upon us women and we are ever striving to change them.
An absolutely wonderful tale and Rodale’ did an amazing job of
creating a fictional tale whilst weaving in the realities of the day in the
late 1800’s and showing us just how it was for men and women in those days.
Bravo to her, what an amazing writer she is. I feel you are going to absolutely
love this book and it deserves a place in every woman’s library!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MAYA RODALE began
reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence. She is now the
bestselling and award winning author smart and sassy romances. She lives in New
York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.
In addition to her bestselling work as a romance novelist, Maya
is also a journalist and book reviewer, published by NPR Books, Bustle,
Washington Post, and more.
Quick Fire
Q&A: A Liberating Conversation with Maya Rodale
1.
The Ladies of Liberty cause a lot of trouble—namely, attempting
to dine alone at Delmonico’s. Why was it important for you to write include
this boundary pushing scene?
This scene is a fictionalized version of something that actually
happened! The real life #inspo for the Ladies of Liberty Club, which this
series centers around, is The Sorosis Society, a ladies club founded by Jane
Cunningham Croly after she was refused entry at a Press Club dinner on account
of her sex. She and her fellow female journalists staged a “sit in” at
Delmonico’s in protest! The restaurant ended up hosting the club’s anniversary
meeting each year. There was no way I wasn’t including this scene in a Gilded
Age Girl’s Club novel.
2.
You wrote, “women were supposed to make it easy to
forget about their existence. To hide the fact that they were flesh and blood
humans who wanted things.” How do you use cosmetics in your daily life to
signal what it is you want?
When I was younger, I used make up to look older. Now that I’m
older, I wear make up because it pleases me to do so and I have learned other
tricks for signaling what I want (like just asking for it!). Every woman’s
relationship to cosmetics is different, and changes at different points in her
life or different hours of the day and that’s okay. There is another line in
the book, where a character declares “I hate the way it feels on my lips, but I
will fight for your right to wear it if you want to!” So this novel explores
women’s complex relationship between how they feel about themselves and how it
affects their romantic relationships.
3.
Theodore Prescott III is a non-traditional romance hero in that
he is described as “pretty” rather than “brawny.” What was the inspiration
behind writing a man whose physique is uncommon in the romance world?
Romancelandia has gotten better at portraying a range of women’s
bodies—they’re not all blonde, violet-eyed girls with waists so narrow the hero
can span his hands around it anymore—but not so much with our heroes, who are
all hyper-masculine, super big and broad and in possession of 12 pack abs. With
Theo, I wanted to romanticize a different type of male body. Because why
not?! Maybe the 18% of romance readers
who are male want to see more diversity in their representation, too.
4.
Cosmetics and makeup are a form of self-care, both in your novel
and in the real world. In the novel, Daisy thinks: “they deserved care
and tenderness, even if only from her proprietary mixture of moisturizing
ingredients.” What are your favorite self-care habits and products?
It’s maybe easy to scoff at the #selfcare trend but it’s really
saying to yourself that you and your needs are valid, valuable and worth being
tended to. Especially for women, who spend so much energy taking care of
everyone else! If I’m really indulgent, I like to get a massage or a haircut.
But often I just need to close my bedroom door and get some time alone.
5.
The Ladies of Liberty practically leapt off the page,
particularly as a group. “The three ladies burst out laughing at a most
unladylike volume. Heads turned. People glared. How dare these outcast and
eccentric women enjoy themselves!” Were these women based on the
nuanced and wonderful women in your own life?
I love using my historical romance novels to shine a light on
real historical women that have been overlooked in the history books. There
were SO MANY women who did amazing things through out history! I think their
lives and accomplishments have been deliberately obscured to so other women
don’t get Ideas about what we’re truly capable of. In my books, I take the
outlines and facts of their lives and breathe life into these characters by
giving them traits and feelings from the wonderful women I know in real life.
So I’m here to write the stories overlooked historical women in a really
accessible way—and what’s more accessible than a paperback romance novel with a
happy ever after?
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