Lively…. Cooke offers up a “sly kind of feminism” with this collection of rule-breakers and role models…What shines through in these intimate stories is Cooke’s respect for her subjects’ shared attitude of ‘derring-do’.” — Joanna Scutts, Washington Post
“In a series of engaging, gossipy essays, filled with sharp observations, she examines the lives of 10 very different women…. It’s clever and amusing, a series of sketches that provide a revealing glimpse into the culture of 1950s Britain.” — Moira Hodgson, Wall Street Journal
“Both entertaining and touching…. It’s Cooke’s intention to “make people reconsider the ‘lost’ decade between the war and feminism” and to “pull the reader along” with these tales of “derring-do.” She succeeds on every count.” — Buzzy Jackson, Boston Globe
“Shines a new light in an elegantly original way into the 1950s…. A very enjoyable and distinctive book.” — Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life
“Reveals the challenges, failures, triumphs and sex lives of those who came of age during World War II by defying society’s expectations…The men and women, loves and losses that shaped them are a fascinating reminder of how the choices we make both imprison and free us.” — Patty Rhule, USA Today
“I always thought of British women of the sixties as cultural pioneers, but I had no idea how fascinating and accomplished—how daring and tough—were the women of the decade before. Thank you, Rachel Cooke, for stylishly adding a chapter to this provincial American’s personal women’s studies curriculum.” — Sheila Weller, author of Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon-and the Journey of a Generation
“The lessons gleaned from these women of another era are timeless and relatable.” — Natasha Awasthi, Fast Company
“The stories are insightful and crafted with care…. A satisfying read for anyone interested in narratives about women’s lives in the early to mid-20th century.” — Library Journal
“Rachel Cooke’s Her Brilliant Career is that rare beast: a work of history as utterly enjoyable as it is important. Cooke writes with a novelist’s authority, humor, and eye for detail and, in doing so, has crafted a history for the ages.” — Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year
“Witty, intelligent, poignant, and exuberantly opinionated. Each life history is as rich and strange as a novel, and Cooke has a novelist’s feeling for story. She never condescends to the past but enters into the conditions of these lives with sympathy and imagination. A superb book.” — Tessa Hadley, author of Clever Girl
“Cooke’s book provides a sparkling group of portraits that, taken together, cast the ‘50s in a new and modern light.” — Marilyn Dahl, Shelf Awareness
“Engrossing, entertaining and, yes, deliciously gossipy. Just as Eminent Victorians forever changed our view of the Victorian era, Her Brilliant Career demolishes the conventional wisdom of the fifties Woman. I, for one, will never think of this decade in the same way.” — Elsa Walsh, author of Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of Three American Women
“Mad men, move over! Her Brilliant Career is Rachel Cooke’s intelligent, informative and gossipy proof that women in the 1950s were doing a lot more than taking dictation, fixing the perfect dry martini, and going nuts in the suburbs.” — Francine Prose, author of Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932: A Novel
“Fascinating. Each of the portraits illuminatingly details the struggles and triumphs of these women, who laid the groundwork for working women in the 1960s and beyond. Cooke’s history of these uncelebrated heroines admirably fills in the gaps in the continuing story of women’s role in the workplace.” — Kirkus
“Cooke’s droll, pressing style is what binds the stories together; no sooner do we embark than we know we will not be disappointed, though every portrait is different, every life depicted complex and, at times, startling.” — Barbara Bamberger Scott, Bookreporter.com
“Delightful….Cooke offers seven mini-biographies of bold, brilliant, sexy women…whose lives are compulsively vivid, page-turning and rich in surprises.” — The London Times
“An exuberant gallop….There is a kind of glee in Ms. Cooke’s writing about the 1950s which, by the end of the book, almost persuades readers that-men notwithstanding-those were the days.” — The Economist
“Vastly entertaining, cannily researched and sharply perceptive.” — Daily Telegraph
“Brilliant.” — Mail on Sunday
“Engrossing….Cooke’s subjects are gloriously tough, too busy pursuing their dreams for introspection or self-doubt. These women achieved what they did because they were able to pierce the blanket of male supremacy. They were happy to achieve something; they weren’t obsessed with having it all.” — London Sunday Times
“Tells the stories of ten women…who didn’t let their skirts stop them….The full-skirted stereotype has been smashed by the end of Her Brilliant Career.” — Financial Times
“A marvellous, moving and funny book. Rachel Cooke makes history come alive. Written by a true storyteller with wonderful writing, a great sense of justice and splendid one-liners. Dorothy Parker with brains and proper prose.” — Carmen Callil, author of Bad Faith
“A gallery of vividly drawn portraits—witty, poignant, inspiriting—that opens up a new front in our understanding of the ‘lost’ Fifties.” — David Kynaston, author of Modernity Britain
“Eloquent, concise, fair-minded, witty and elegant.” — The Independent
“An exuberant, glass-chinking book….A splendidly various collection of ‘brief lives’ written with both gusto and sensitivity.” — The Guardian
“Delightful….Cooke offers seven mini-biographies of bold, brilliant, sexy women…whose lives are compulsively vivid, page-turning and rich in surprises....There is warmth and lightness of spirit to this book: it is witty, intelligent, kind and poignant..” — The London Times
“Excellent….Looks back at a time when women’s lives were undergoing amazing changes and completely demolishes any notion that the 50’s were just a dull and domestic time for women.” — The Observer
“Cooke’s bright, enjoyable group biography contains a double triumph. She brings to light the lives of 10 lesser-known women of the 1950s…and in so doing succeeds in recasting the entire decade.” — London Sunday Times
“A must-read biography of an era, featuring the sort of women who feel like something out of a novel but who were there in the 1950s-larger-than-life and far more thrilling than any housewife stereotype (however Mad Men glamorous).” — Red Online
“Cooke is one of the outstanding British journalists of her generation.” — Sebastian Faulks
“Lively and thought-provoking.” — London Review of Books
“Collection of ‘brief lives’ written with elan and sensitivity by the Observer writer.” — The Observer
Lively…. Cooke offers up a “sly kind of feminism” with this collection of rule-breakers and role models…What shines through in these intimate stories is Cooke’s respect for her subjects’ shared attitude of ‘derring-do’.
The lessons gleaned from these women of another era are timeless and relatable.
I always thought of British women of the sixties as cultural pioneers, but I had no idea how fascinating and accomplished—how daring and tough—were the women of the decade before. Thank you, Rachel Cooke, for stylishly adding a chapter to this provincial American’s personal women’s studies curriculum.
Both entertaining and touching…. It’s Cooke’s intention to “make people reconsider the ‘lost’ decade between the war and feminism” and to “pull the reader along” with these tales of “derring-do.” She succeeds on every count.
Rachel Cooke’s Her Brilliant Career is that rare beast: a work of history as utterly enjoyable as it is important. Cooke writes with a novelist’s authority, humor, and eye for detail and, in doing so, has crafted a history for the ages.
Witty, intelligent, poignant, and exuberantly opinionated. Each life history is as rich and strange as a novel, and Cooke has a novelist’s feeling for story. She never condescends to the past but enters into the conditions of these lives with sympathy and imagination. A superb book.
Shines a new light in an elegantly original way into the 1950s…. A very enjoyable and distinctive book.
Reveals the challenges, failures, triumphs and sex lives of those who came of age during World War II by defying society’s expectations…The men and women, loves and losses that shaped them are a fascinating reminder of how the choices we make both imprison and free us.
In a series of engaging, gossipy essays, filled with sharp observations, she examines the lives of 10 very different women…. It’s clever and amusing, a series of sketches that provide a revealing glimpse into the culture of 1950s Britain.
A must-read biography of an era, featuring the sort of women who feel like something out of a novel but who were there in the 1950s-larger-than-life and far more thrilling than any housewife stereotype (however Mad Men glamorous).
Delightful….Cooke offers seven mini-biographies of bold, brilliant, sexy women…whose lives are compulsively vivid, page-turning and rich in surprises.
Brilliant.
Eloquent, concise, fair-minded, witty and elegant.
Mad men, move over! Her Brilliant Career is Rachel Cooke’s intelligent, informative and gossipy proof that women in the 1950s were doing a lot more than taking dictation, fixing the perfect dry martini, and going nuts in the suburbs.
Lively and thought-provoking.
An exuberant, glass-chinking book….A splendidly various collection of ‘brief lives’ written with both gusto and sensitivity.
An exuberant gallop….There is a kind of glee in Ms. Cooke’s writing about the 1950s which, by the end of the book, almost persuades readers that-men notwithstanding-those were the days.
Cooke’s book provides a sparkling group of portraits that, taken together, cast the ‘50s in a new and modern light.
Excellent….Looks back at a time when women’s lives were undergoing amazing changes and completely demolishes any notion that the 50’s were just a dull and domestic time for women.
A marvellous, moving and funny book. Rachel Cooke makes history come alive. Written by a true storyteller with wonderful writing, a great sense of justice and splendid one-liners. Dorothy Parker with brains and proper prose.
Engrossing, entertaining and, yes, deliciously gossipy. Just as Eminent Victorians forever changed our view of the Victorian era, Her Brilliant Career demolishes the conventional wisdom of the fifties Woman. I, for one, will never think of this decade in the same way.
Cooke is one of the outstanding British journalists of her generation.
Tells the stories of ten women…who didn’t let their skirts stop them….The full-skirted stereotype has been smashed by the end of Her Brilliant Career.
Engrossing….Cooke’s subjects are gloriously tough, too busy pursuing their dreams for introspection or self-doubt. These women achieved what they did because they were able to pierce the blanket of male supremacy. They were happy to achieve something; they weren’t obsessed with having it all.
A gallery of vividly drawn portraits—witty, poignant, inspiriting—that opens up a new front in our understanding of the ‘lost’ Fifties.
Vastly entertaining, cannily researched and sharply perceptive.
Cooke’s droll, pressing style is what binds the stories together; no sooner do we embark than we know we will not be disappointed, though every portrait is different, every life depicted complex and, at times, startling.
Tells the stories of ten women…who didn’t let their skirts stop them….The full-skirted stereotype has been smashed by the end of Her Brilliant Career.
Reveals the challenges, failures, triumphs and sex lives of those who came of age during World War II by defying society’s expectations…The men and women, loves and losses that shaped them are a fascinating reminder of how the choices we make both imprison and free us.
Delightful….Cooke offers seven mini-biographies of bold, brilliant, sexy women…whose lives are compulsively vivid, page-turning and rich in surprises....There is warmth and lightness of spirit to this book: it is witty, intelligent, kind and poignant..
Vastly entertaining, cannily researched and sharply perceptive.
11/15/2014
Writer and critic Cooke's (contributor The Observer; New Statesman) debut asks the question: What were the lives of professional women like in postwar Britain? Inspired by an antique Ercol sideboard, the author wonders at the ambitions of the women who strove to own such a piece. Turning to a collection of memoirs, diaries, letters, interviews, and first-hand accounts, Cooke recalls the lives of ten women whose work had an impact on the way we think of modern film, architecture and landscaping, cooking, and even law—despite their names being relatively unknown today. Journalism/broadcaster Nancy Spain and Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter Muriel Box are among those featured. The stories are insightful and crafted with care; foregoing the nostalgia and idealization that often colors how we imagine the roles of women in the Fifties. The experiences described are anything but ordinary, though these women are not necessarily the feminist trailblazers some readers may expect to find. Cooke makes no assumptions regarding her subjects' attitudes and presents a balanced account that considers their personal and public lives. VERDICT A satisfying read for anyone interested in narratives about women's lives in the early to mid-20th century. [See Prepub Alert, 6/8/14.]—Gricel Dominguez, Florida International Univ. Lib.
2014-09-28
British journalist Cooke recounts the stories of 10 women whose personal and professional lives shattered the common image of a repressed 1950s homemaker. Though the seven chapters (one chapter weaves together the life stories of three women) can be enjoyed as stand-alone biographies, when read as a whole, the narrative creates a fascinating portrait of cultural life in post-World War II Britain. The war upended social roles in Britain. During wartime, women filled jobs men vacated, but at the war's conclusion, the veterans wanted their positions back. How should the women who wanted to work outside the home during the 1950s pursue that goal? Cooke noted how, for women on a career path, the route forward was a fraught one. "Those who embarked on careers," she writes, "had to be thick-skinned: immune to slights and knock-backs, resolute in the face of tremendous social expectation and prepared for loneliness." The author's subjects include a best-selling cookbook author, a magazine editor, a rally car driver, a writer and popular celebrity, an architect, a gardener, a director, a producer, an archaeologist and a judge. The author uses elements of published memoirs, diaries or letters, and she also interviewed numerous friends, relatives and colleagues of each of her subjects. Cooke includes two delightful bonus sections, adding another layer to her snapshot of the era. One discusses fashion in the '50s, and the other lists "Some Good and Richly Subversive Novels by Women, 1950-60." For American readers, many of these women will be unfamiliar, and some of the cultural reference points may not click. Regardless, each of the portraits illuminatingly details the struggles and triumphs of these women, who laid the groundwork for working women in the 1960s and beyond. Cooke's history of these uncelebrated heroines admirably fills in the gaps in the continuing story of women's role in the workplace.
