Novel set in 1960s Manhattan

27th August 2019

Park Avenue Summer by Renée Rosen, novel set in 1960s Manhattan.

With thanks to author Gill Paul (and I am a great fan of her books by the way), who flagged this title on Twitter, I have totally been transported back to the Summer of 1965 and Manhattan.

Ali Weiss is an Ohio girl whose mother felt most at home in the intoxicating city of New York. Thus, with a nod to her mother Vivian, who died when Ali was only 13, she heads off to Big Apple, with a firm eye on becoming a top photographer. Her mother’s friend Elaine (who happens to be editing that iconic book / film “Valley of the Dolls”) encourages her to apply for the job of PA to Helen Gurley Brown, who was ahead of her time and still in the limelight following her freshly published (now cult classic) “Sex and the Single Girl“.

HGB has also taken over the failing Hearst Corporation title Cosmopolitan. The first edition is to be published under her new and risqué leadership in July 1965. Whatever the pressures from the male dominated executive committee, HGB was the woman to bowl the proverbial swerve ball. Tiny, skeletal, almost birdlike, she had an iron determination that would see off the naysayers with aplomb, with a good dose of charm and nerves of steel (in public). Behind the scenes Ali witnessed all kinds of fragility and doubts, always deferring and seeking support from her husband David, a noted film producer.

The big names of the age pass through the narrative – Hugh Hefner, Lauren (Betty) Bacall, Tony Curtis, Betty Friedan – and they all lend authenticity to the period.

Cosmo – Cosmopolitan – has been a stalwart for a couple of generations of women readers (“Yes, finish my exams and I will be lingering in a hot bath, with bubbles, of course, and the latest copy of Cosmo…bring it on” was always the clarion call of academic examinees in the Summer months). Thus we know that the magazine went on to be a rip-roaring success and this knowledge in no way spoils the pleasure and tension of the novel. We can root for HGB and her team in the full knowledge it will turn out pretty well!

Ali is the gofer and at times confidante to this rather amazing woman and it is through her eyes that we see the evolution of this iconic July edition. She of course has her own story, which dovetails very well. She has just been jilted by her fiancé and is not actively looking for a new boyfriend but in these days of sexual liberation maybe she too can have it all. Yes, she has an ill-conceived dalliance, yes she always has an eye on her goal of becoming a photographer. She is a nicely drawn, moral young woman, who is navigating her way in modern times. Oh, and at one point she gets to have free reign of the ‘Beauty Closet” at the Cosmo offices (not jealous at all!).

From the author’s Insta feed

Manhattan as a setting is beautifully conjured up. The smells and the vibe, the change in feel as you move across town is evocatively captured, and the architecture sets off the both visceral and edifying descriptions of city life. The author talks about her research of setting in “Behind the Book” at the end of the novel. She was inspired by Mad Men and knew she wanted to capture the spirit of the age but with a different theme…”..this book required a special research trip. I needed to observe the city from a different perspective. It’s so easy to get swept up in the energy there that you can miss all the wonderful details that are uniquely New York. I felt a little like Ali, taking hundreds of pictures of quirky things – like garbage on the kerb, steam rising up form manholes…” She also felt it was important to visit some of the places that HGB frequented and thus the reader is enabled to step into the Russian Tea Room, The 21 Club, the Plaza and the Regis. The revamped Tavern on the Green sounds like a good tip when visiting the city, too!

This is a well written novel that colourfully evokes time and place and offers a largely fictive, yet credible insight into the world of Cosmopolitan in the Summer of ’65.

Tina for the TripFiction

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