Today’s blog post is a first me- a blog tour post! I was quite excited to be asked to be a part of the Rouge blog tour, to celebrate the release of Richard Kirshenbaum’s new novel. Set in the mid-twentieth century, Rouge follows three different cosmetics creators who made the beauty industry what it is today. It is a true pleasure to read, and luckily for us, it was just released on 25 June 2019! And of course, I have to give a big thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rouge, Richard Kirshenbaum
Like Swans of Fifth Avenue and Truman Capote’s Answered Prayers, Richard Kirshenbaum’s Rouge gives readers a rare front row seat into the world of high society and business through the rivalry of two beauty industry icons, by the master marketer and chronicler of the over-moneyed.
Rouge is a sexy, glamorous journey into the rivalry of the pioneers of powder, mascara and rouge.This fast-paced novel examines the lives, loves, and sacrifices of the visionaries who invented the modern cosmetics industry: Josiah Herzenstein, born in a Polish Jewish Shtlel, the entrepreneur who transforms herself into a global style icon and the richest woman in the world, Josephine Herz; Constance Gardiner, her rival, the ultimate society woman who invents the door-to-door business and its female workforce but whose deepest secret threatens everything; CeeCee Lopez, the bi-racial beauty and founder of the first African American woman’s hair relaxer business, who overcomes prejudice and heartbreak to become her community’s first female millionaire. The cast of characters is rounded out by Mickey Heron, a dashing, sexy ladies’ man whose cosmetics business is founded in a Hollywood brothel. All are bound in a struggle to be number one, doing anything to get there…including murder.
I truly enjoyed this novel! After visiting the Christian Dior exhibition at the V&A, I became far more interested in the beauty industry. I think nowadays, many of us take beauty brands for granted and forget that they have extensive and ranging histories of their own. Rouge is the perfect antidote! Josephine, Constance, and CeeCee are complicated and fascinating protagonists that you have to keep reading for. They are complex women leading distinctly different but intertwined lives. I wasn’t sure if the beauty part of the story would be too technical, but it was not the case. Kirshenbaum gives you enough information on the beauty side to round out the story without getting into the chemical side.
As a piece of historical fiction, Kirshenbaum skilfully builds several different settings and relationships. As the reader, you are transported to Australia and New York and several other locations, and it feels like you are there. I find that places like New York are often overwritten, but he doesn’t go overboard at all. The settings truly are a character in the novel, and are one of many reasons to read it. The other major reason to read it is the compelling protagonists in Constance, CeeCee, and Josephine. Although they were based on real women (Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden), they don’t read like a fictionalised biography. They are strong, compelling characters, and never descend to cat-fighting and clichés. Instead, the reader is treated to a deft battle between three incredible women. It is the perfect book to get lost in for a weekend!
Q&A
1. How did you become inspired to write ROUGE?
“I’m part of the first generation of men to have worked for the first generation of female entrepreneurs and executives. As an ad man, I also ran many cosmetic accounts throughout the U.S., from Avon to Revlon, and much in between. I was inspired by the female entrepreneurs who founded the first multi-billion dollar female driven industry, and was surprised that there hadn’t been a novel about the industry before this.”
2. Can you talk about your research process?
“Over the past thirty years, a lot has been drawn from biographies of well-known people who run these cosmetics companies. As a novel, Rouge is a compilation of characters based on women and men who founded these companies. I often draw from those biographies. I also do an enormous amount of research online. Today vs. 25 years ago, where you had to go to the New York Public Library, it’s a joy to be able to access so many articles and books online. I think it’s really important, when writing a period piece, to understand world events that happened during that time. It’s hard to set a book in the 1920’s and place your character at a bar, if that’s when prohibition was in effect. So unless you really understand what’s going on in the world, you can’t give an accurate portrayal. One has to do a year-by-year deep dive if you’re writing historical fiction.”
3. How was the experience of writing ROUGE, a novel, different from your last book, Isn’t That Rich?, which was nonfiction?
“Essays are mostly observational and contemporary, so I was always intrigued by the people I know and some of the ridiculous things that occur in a certain group. Creating fictional characters is actually in many ways more rewarding for me. I believe that when you create strong characters and come up with a great plot line with characters who drive the story, it’s fascinating to bring so much life. It’s the ultimate creative process.”
4. Tell us about some of the locations where you wrote ROUGE?
“In the acknowledgements at the back of the book, I include places, as well as people. I was inspired from writing in different locations. For example, in the villa in Jamaica where Ian Fleming wrote his James Bond novels. You can rent out the villa, which includes a manual type-writer, and it’s really inspiring to write in a place like that with such literary significance. It inspired me to write something worthy. Every time I go someplace, it adds to the tapestry of what I’m writing about.”
5. What’s the last book you read?
Currently reading: Three Men on a Diet: A Very English Approach to Losing Weight by George Courtauld.
Do you have Rouge on your upcoming reading list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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After all I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon!