Jena Henry's Reviews > The Show Girl

Come meet the modern girl of the Roaring Twenties, Olive Shine, in Nicola Harrison’s Historical Fiction, “The Show Girl.” The snazzy cover of this book features a show girl, with her twenty pounds of feathers atop her head. America was coming of age in the 1920’s and so were young women like Olive. But new times can mean new challenges.

Olive dreamed of being a show girl and the books begins with her barging into Ziegfeld’s office at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York City to present herself as the next show girl in his famous Follies troupe. Sometime audacity works, and Olive thinks her dream life has begun.

This book will have you totally enraptured with the 1920’s in New York City. The nightlife, the speakeasies, the fancy restaurants, the modern and exciting vibe are all depicted so vividly. The details of Olive’s show girl life and the production of the fantastic Ziegfeld shows are enthralling and well-written.

But there is more to Olive than glitz and glamour. She’s feisty, ferocious about achieving her dreams, and a bit wild and madcap. She came from a staid, middle class family and she harbors a tragic secret. When she meets wealthy and all-around wonderful Archie, she feels love for the first time. But what happens when her life and dreams collide? And we also know something that Olive doesn’t- October,1929 is coming soon. Can Olive the show girl keep her dreams alive or must her dreams change?

“The Show Girl” features a one-of-a kind main character and a lively story. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.