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A review by gilmoreguide
Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck
4.0
Fallen Beauty is the story of a lovely young woman, Laura Kelley, who pays the price for one night of passion by becoming pregnant. It’s 1928 in upstate New York and her decision to keep her child, despite the father’s unwillingness to acknowledge her, changes the course of her life. Both her parents are dead and so, at age nineteen, she is left to run their dress shop alone after her sister leaves to get married. Her talents are prodigious but not enough to sway the opinions of the local women who shun her so she struggles to support herself and her daughter.
At the same time as these more mundane aspects of life unfold, there is an alternate universe operating in a remote mountain town nearby. The renowned poet Edna St. Vincent Millay lives on an estate with her husband and hosts parties known for their wildness and free love attitudes. All is in the name of Millay’s work and she draws inspiration from everything around her. There is no repression in her life or her work so when she hosts a party and Laura’s sister attends, wearing one of Laura’s creations, it brings Laura’s talent to Millay’s attention. The problem? Millay’s wild lifestyle and the fact that she slept with her sister’s husband means that despite the much needed income a wealthy patroness would bring her, Laura does not want to makes dresses for her. When circumstances force her to work with Millay she is less than impressed by the poet’s intensity and extreme behavior.
The rest of this review is available at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/03/fallen-beauty/
At the same time as these more mundane aspects of life unfold, there is an alternate universe operating in a remote mountain town nearby. The renowned poet Edna St. Vincent Millay lives on an estate with her husband and hosts parties known for their wildness and free love attitudes. All is in the name of Millay’s work and she draws inspiration from everything around her. There is no repression in her life or her work so when she hosts a party and Laura’s sister attends, wearing one of Laura’s creations, it brings Laura’s talent to Millay’s attention. The problem? Millay’s wild lifestyle and the fact that she slept with her sister’s husband means that despite the much needed income a wealthy patroness would bring her, Laura does not want to makes dresses for her. When circumstances force her to work with Millay she is less than impressed by the poet’s intensity and extreme behavior.
The rest of this review is available at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/03/fallen-beauty/