BOOKS

HISTORICAL FICTION, LAUGH - OUT- LOUD ROMANCE AND A MURDER MYSTERY. THREE FANTASTIC READS TO PUT YOU IN A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND.

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl

By Renée Rosen

In A New York Minute

By Kate Spencer

The Alienist

By Caleb Carr

In 1938 in New York City, a woman named Estée Lauder was producing face creams and lotions in her small apartment. Employment was scant and war fast-approaching. Her husband Joe floundered from one menial job to the next, spending most of his time caring for their son, Leonard. Estée starts selling her products in beauty parlors, giving facials and free samples to any woman with a moment to spare. As her line increases, so do her visions of fame and fortune. One day she befriends Gloria, the new shampoo girl. Estée takes the younger and less assured Gloria under her wing and fills her with a drive she never imagined. Gloria, once a pampered socialite, lost everything when her father went to Sing Sing for a Ponzi scheme, a secret she would never reveal. As Estée’s products battle rivals Revlon, Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden, she remains wholly focused on getting her cosmetics into Saks Fifth Avenue. These spirited women help each other attain success and happiness, determined to prove that women really could have it all. Based on the true life story of icon Estée Lauder, this fascinating journey expertly pulls the reader back through time.

Karen Newfield

... a reader and now a writer, has hundreds of book reviews at: www. readingandeating.com. For questions and comments, email karen@newfield. org.

One morning when Franny Doyle arrives at her busy Manhattan office, she is summoned to the conference room. After four faithful years as an interior designer, she is laid off due to severe cutbacks. In shock, Franny fills a box with her meager belongings and heads to the suffocating subway. Her pretty summer dress gets caught in the doors and rips straight through the back. Surprisingly, as good Samaritans are rarely found in NY, a charming, handsome man comes to her rescue. Crying, sweating and now wrapped in his suit jacket, a flustered Franny makes her way home. Naturally, every passenger had their phone handy and this subway surprise goes viral as the strangers become the latest social media sensation. When the local news picks up the story, Franny and Hayes Montgomery III unite on a popular morning show. With much awkwardness, Franny thanks her knight in shining Gucci and expects this fiasco to end. Frustrated, jobless and questioning all her life decisions, Franny ironically continues bumping into handsome Hayes. Despite the many difficulties of being single in the city, sparks fly throughout this adorable and steamy love letter to Manhattan.

In 1896, John Schuyler Moore, a New York reporter, is summoned by his old Harvard friend Theodore Roosevelt, the police commissioner. Roosevelt is trying to crack down on corruption, and crime is at the top of his agenda. He enlists Moore and eminent psychiatrist Dr. Lazlo Kreizler to solve a string of gruesome murders: young boys who cross dress and offer services at various brothels are dead. These boys are severely mutilated. It’s an obvious pattern, and quite suspicious that the police are covering it up. Kreizler, Moore and secretary Sara Howard begin to unravel the many clues to this serial killer. Kreizler is an alienist, a term coined for psychiatrists at the time, who focuses on the minds of the mentally ill with violent histories. As one of the most famous novels set in New York, this story introduces the history of forensic techniques such as fingerprinting along with Kreizler’s psychological profiling of how childhood abuse can lead to adult violence, a phenomenon more fully understood by society today than 100 years earlier. A chilling fictionalized account of social history. A series recently adapted for the screen is also on HBO Max.

WATCH TIP: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” follows the life of Midge in 1958 NYC as a typical housewife who shockingly decides to take a turn at being a stand-up comic. The fifth and final season of this comedy releases April 14 on Prime Video.

April 1, 2023, the efforts of hundreds of people culminated in the success of the 42nd Annual 7-Mile Bridge Run. The Marathon Runners Club wishes to say THANKS to all of those people who participated in the planning and execution of the run, as well as the dedicated law enforcement officials who so efficiently carried out their traffic control and safety responsibilities.

"I Promise" crew

Julie Elgersma - Supply Disbursement

Dave Daniels - Safety Team and T-shirts

The Sayer Family

Bobbie & Chuck Bayles & Family

Luis Gonzalez Family

Don Scoמּen Family

Kevin Freeman - Mile Markers

Pete Worthington - Communication Team

Numbers Aﬞernoon Crew

Jim Murphy

MHS & MMS Coaches & Teams

“Murph” and Lance

Best Packet Pickup and Stuffing Team

Entire Faro Blanco & Lighthouse Grill Hospitality Staff

Diane’s Nurses Team

We wish to acknowledge contributions made by:

Rafael Medina

Mike Puto

Sue Corbin

Zoltan Polgar & Agency 44

Renee and Team

Marathon Electric Sign & Light

Pat Kersey

Don & Son Fence Co.

Split Second Timing

Florida Keys Electric Co-op

Denise & Chris Pankow

Southernmost Runners Club

Bill Becker/Jim Dorl

Key West Visitor Center

Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina

King’s Concrete Repair

Big Pine Motel

Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge

Bank of America

Crane Point Hammock

Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce

Marathon Lumber

Tom Wright’s Office Crew

CM & Dennis Bishop

Sunbelt Rentals

Jahaira Montalegre

UPS Store Sharon & Paמּy

First Horizon & Trich

Dean Richardson

John Bartus

Tiffany & Cathy