Grit and Glamour: Novels About Women and Fame
We know all that glitters is not gold — and maybe that’s why we love getting a glimpse into the gritty reality behind the glamorous surface of celebrity life. These novels give you a front-row seat as fictional Hollywood A-listers, reality TV stars, royals, and more deal with the demands and scandals of their lives in the harsh glare of the spotlight. Get out your popcorn and get to know these fierce, fabulous women!
Layne Fargo is the author of The Favorites, an epic love story set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating, starring a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice.
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Add to BookshelfThe Favorites
by Layne Fargo
Katarina Shaw has always known she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end. As the 10-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can’t stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy. So, after a decade of silence, she’s telling her story, and the truth may be even more shocking than the headlines.
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The Seventh Veil of Salome
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The behind-the-scenes drama in The Seventh Veil of Salome is even more epic than the big-budget sword-and-sandals picture at the center of Moreno-Garcia’s gorgeously written golden-age Hollywood saga. After unknown Mexican actress Vera Larios gets the coveted role of Biblical temptress Salome, she has to contend with a demanding director, manipulative media, her lecherous co-star, and the bigoted background player determined to be her professional and romantic rival, in order to keep her star status.
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The Force of Such Beauty
by Barbara Bourland
Former Olympic track star Caroline seems to be living a real-life fairy tale when she marries into the royal family of a small European nation. But Barbara Bourland fractures the princess fantasy by showing the grim reality of Caroline’s unhappy marriage, and the prohibitive costs of her attempts to escape her gilded cage. The Force of Such Beauty is a tour de force about a woman too formidable to be contained.
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Colored Television
by Danzy Senna
Novelist Jane finally completes her masterpiece (a “mulatto War & Peace” that spans the history of mixed-race people in America), only to have it soundly rejected by the literary establishment. Demoralized, she turns to screenwriting instead, teaming up with a hotshot Black producer tasked with developing “diverse” content. Danzy Senna skillfully tracks Jane’s journey into the dark heart of Hollywood as she grapples with what she’s willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of success and acclaim.
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The Hurricane Blonde
by Halley Sutton
You’ll never see Tinsel Town the same way after reading Halley Sutton’s nepo baby noir The Hurricane Blonde. Former child actress turned tabloid spectacle Salma Lowe tried to distance herself from her famous — and famously dysfunctional — family in the wake of her movie star sister’s tragic unsolved murder. But after discovering a real corpse along the Hollywood murder bus tour route Salma drives, she’s plunged back into the glitzy world of her youth and forced to reckon with its grimy underbelly.
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Tehrangeles
by Porochista Khakpour
Porochista Khakpour’s sly, satirical take on Little Women stars a quartet of Iranian-American sisters who are determined to gain reality TV fame. The second-oldest sister, ambitious influencer Roxanna, would happily settle for infamy, and she refuses to let a little thing like a global pandemic keep her from throwing the party of the century with cameras rolling. What results is a hilarious and surprisingly poignant exploration of what the American dream really means and what lengths some will go to achieve it.
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The Daydreams
by Laura Hankin
The Daydreams was the hottest teen show of the Y2K era until its young stars turned on each other and turned the live season finale into a trainwreck. Laura Hankin’s novel picks up over a decade after their spectacular implosion when the cast is considering a reunion-special comeback that will either put the rumors to rest or spark brand-new ones. For main character Kat, who left Hollywood behind entirely to become a lawyer, digging up the past for another 15 minutes of fame might give her the closure she so desperately needed. Or it might finally destroy her.
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Dances
by Nicole Cuffy
Nicole Cuffy’s raw, lyrical novel Dances chronicles the rise of ballerina Cece Cordell. When Cece becomes the first Black principal dancer in a major New York ballet company, she’s skyrocketed to worldwide celebrity — and all the pressure and scrutiny that comes with it. When a messy breakup with her white, womanizing dance partner makes life in the public eye even more complicated, Cece decides it’s time to finally reckon with her past — including the mysterious disappearance of her addict brother, who still haunts every step she takes on stage and off.
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