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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour celebrating the release of The Great Pretenders by Laura Kalpakian! Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the invitation! Stay tuned for information on how to win a copy at the bottom of this post!

About the Book:

The daughter of Hollywood royalty, Roxanne Granville is used to getting what she wants–even if she has to break the rules. But after a falling-out with her grandfather, a powerful movie mogul, she has to face life on her own for the first time….

Roxanne forges a career unique for women in the 1950s, becoming an agent for hungry young screenwriters. She struggles to be taken seriously by the men who rule Hollywood and who often assume that sexual favors are just a part of doing business. When she sells a script by a blacklisted writer under the name of a willing front man, more exiled writers seek her help. Roxanne wades into a world murky with duplicity and deception, and she can’t afford any more risks.

Then she meets Terrence Dexter, a compelling African American journalist unlike anyone she’s ever known. Roxanne again breaks the rules, and is quickly swept up in a passionate relationship with very real dangers that could destroy everything she’s carefully built.

Roxanne Granville is a woman who bravely defies convention. She won’t let men make all the rules, and won’t let skin color determine whom she can love. The Great Pretenders is a riveting, emotional novel that resonates in today’s world, and reminds us that some things are worth fighting for.

My Thoughts:

The Great Pretenders is the story of Roxanne Granville, daughter and granddaughter of 1950s Hollywood royalty. Roxanne has the world on a silver platter until she falls out with her grandfather. Now she’s paying her own bills. 

Roxanne becomes an agent for screenwriters, something quite different for women of that era. She helps a blacklisted writer sell a script, and suddenly, her agency is in high demand. 

Roxanne then meets Terrence Dexter, an African American journalist and breaks all the “rules” by falling in love with him. This relationship could shut down her business. 

Roxanne decides the rules she’s going to follow. The issues on her plate are not unlike the present seventy years later. I loved watching her transformation from spoiled rich girl to formidable woman who takes stands for what she deems worthy, and she especially isn’t going to take orders from men.

Overall, Roxanne is feisty and fun, and I found her inspiring and a force to be reckoned with. The style of writing is impressive and engaging, and there were characters here to champion and those that completely turned my stomach. The 1950s is a bygone era, but is it really that far gone? 

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

About the Author:

Laura Kalpakian is the author of sixteen novels and four collections of short fiction published in the US and the UK. Recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and nominated for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, her work has garnered acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Her short stories have appeared in the Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, and the US, UK, and India Good Housekeeping, as well as many other magazines and literary journals.

***Book Giveaway***

For a chance to win a paperback copy of The Great Pretenders, please visit my instagram page!  Giveaway generously sponsored by the publisher. 

Have you read The Great Pretenders, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR