Danielle Martin's Beautiful New Novel about Friendship: GLIMMER AS YOU CAN

by Susan Roberts

"This was all so different. Lisa had been living in Brooklyn for her entire life but she had never beheld a place like this. Women streamed around the space, holding delicate cups of drink, as others sat cross-legged next to the mannequins, making pastel sketches of fashion. Still others emerged from the fitting room, modeling glamorous ensembles for clusters of friends.  It all sparkled..." (p 22)

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November 2020; Alcove Press; 978-1643855233
audio, ebook, print (298 pages); women's fiction

The year is 1962 and the location is Brooklyn. There is a high-end dress shop here that operates as a women's club in the evenings called The Starlite.  As the word about it gets out, more women starting attending the evening celebrations of music and poetry and just being free of their daily lives.  The book is centered around three main characters:

• Madeline owns the shop and started the women's club.  She had been married to a local politician who cheated on her and demeaned her.  She finds freedom in her life though the female friendships that she makes at the club.
• Elaine, a British ex-pat struggling to save her relationship but wondering if it's really worth saving.  Her boyfriend seems determined to keep her at his side while he drinks and parties and she longs to get a job in journalism and  live her own life,
• Lisa is a Pan-Am stewardess who is dreaming of marriage with her boyfriend.  Then she can quit her job and rely on him to take care of her until she realizes that this may not be the life she is looking for when she becomes friends with Madeline and Elaine and begins to long for the freedom to live her life as she wants to.

The world deals these three women a lot of sorrow and bad luck but their friendships help them get through and the social cub helps them learn what life can really be like.

Glimmer as You Can is a beautifully written novel about female friendships -- friends who are available to help no matter what the circumstances.  In a time period when women were just beginning to break out of the mold of the 50s, friendships were the way to find and celebrate new freedoms.  Life has changed considerably for women since the early 60s but one thing that hasn't changed is the importance of friends.

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Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina with her husband of over 50 years.  She grew up in Michigan but now calls North Carolina home. Since her travel plans had to be canceled for this year, she is starting to make plans for travel in 2021. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and historical fiction. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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