Park Avenue Summer (2019), by Renée Rosen, is a fictional account of how Helen Gurley Brown got Cosmopolitan magazine up and running in the summer of 1965. The magazine had been a traditional woman's magazine with recipes and housekeeping tips. Brown, who had no prior magazine experience, was given the job of revitalizing it. The Hearst company, however, expected her to fail. The magazine had been failing when she was given the job. She was expected to continue running the magazine as status quo.
Did she have other ideas! This was the time when the women's movement was becoming more mainstream. Brown wanted her magazine to deal with women's sexuality. She got a lot of push-back from the publishers. Her husband, David Brown, had a lot of influence and backed Helen's decisions.
The novel is told from the perspective of her young secretary. It's a fun read.
4 Stars.
Read: February 4, 2022
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