Scandalous Women: A Novel of Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann
Scandalous Women by Gill Paul follows two Jackies—Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann, two New York Times bestselling romance authors who turned the 1960s literary world upside down with their steamy novels featuring sexually liberated heroines. Susann, author of Valley of the Dolls, was based in New York City, while Collins writes her The World is Full of Married Men from London. Both women struggle to succeed in a world eager to criticize career driven, independent women.
A third point-of-view focuses on fictional Nancy, a young career woman working for Jacqueline Susann’s agent. With hopes of becoming a book editor, Nancy, newly graduated from college and completely innocent in the ways of the big city, is mentored by world-wise Jacqueline. In many ways, Nancy’s story is the most compelling of the three; while both Collins and Susann face and survive many adverse events, there is a lack of tension in their plotlines. In many ways, the novel is essentially a domestic drama and possesses a slower pace.
Jackie Collins would have a decades-long career, going on to write multiple best-selling novels including her best-known work, Hollywood Wives (1983). Jacqueline Susann’s career was cut short by her death from lung cancer in 1974; she published four books during her life. However, additional works were published following her death.
Scandalous Women provides fascinating insight into the literary world of the 1960s, which, like society in general, is undergoing significant upheaval. The novel will appeal to readers who love biographical fiction and stories set in the recent past.
