Park Avenue Summer
Book Review - Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen
Join us for June’s Virtual Book Club discussing Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen! Bonus: Renee Rosen will be joining us for the discussion, this is the time to ask those burning questions! As always, you are welcome to join even if you haven't finished (or started!) the book. Pour yourself a glass of wine and login to a friendly, casual discussion centered around books and reading. Click here for more information on how to join.
I was first introduced to Renee Rosen books when I read and reviewed Windy City Blues back in 2017. I absolutely loved that book and was so excited when she agreed to do an interview with me. That’s when I first heard about her next book about Helen Gurley Brown, the woman who brought Cosmopolitan magazine a new life and saved it from folding. Yes, I’ve been waiting for this book for almost two years and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! I think this is my favorite of the Renee Rosen books I’ve read.
Helen Gurley Brown was quite the character. She fought for women’s rights in a way that many women could relate to and in a way that many women took offense to. She was controversial, to say the least. But what can’t be denied is that she made talking about women’s issues less taboo and brought discussions of sex out in the open. Prior to becoming the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, she wrote a book called “Sex and the Single Girl” which inspired a movie of the same name. Watching the movie today, it is cringe-inducing (as many old movies are.) In historical context, though, I can see how she pushed the boundaries to allow all women to be themselves. And Helen Gurley Brown was unapologetically herself.
Of course, Renee Rosen takes a few creative liberties when writing Park Avenue Summer (a privilege of being a historical fiction author) but for the most part she sticks to the facts when possible. She drew an incredible portrait of a very complicated woman. I absolutely cannot wait to discuss this book in June at our virtual book club. Helen Gurley Brown is guaranteed to spark a lively discussion.