The Show Girl: A Novel

by Nicola Harrison

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Beautifully written, evocative and full of rich descriptions of 1920s New York. Olive, an ambitious and talented dancer, leaves her small town in Minnesota in search of fame in the big city. A fascinating, riveting read from beginning to end!

Nicola Harrison's The Show Girl gives a glimpse of the glamorous world of the Ziegfeld Follies, through the eyes of a young midwestern woman who comes to New York City to find her destiny as a Ziegfeld Follies star.

"Fans of Elizabeth Gilbert's City of Girls will drink this up." --Booklist

It's 1927 when Olive McCormick moves from Minneapolis to New York City determined to become a star in the Ziegfeld Follies. Extremely talented as a singer and dancer, it takes every bit of perseverance to finally make it on stage. And once she does, all the glamour and excitement is everything she imagined and more—even worth all the sacrifices she has had to make along the way.

Then she meets Archie Carmichael. Handsome, wealthy—the only man she's ever met who seems to accept her modern ways—her independent nature and passion for success. But once she accepts his proposal of marriage he starts to change his tune, and Olive must decide if she is willing to reveal a devastating secret and sacrifice the life she loves for the man she loves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250200167
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/10/2021
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	106,193
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Born in England, Nicola Harrison moved to CA where she received a BA in Literature at UCLA before moving to NYC and earning an MFA in creative writing at Stony Brook. She is a member of The Writers Room, has short stories published in The Southampton Review and Glimmer Train and articles in Los Angeles Magazine and Orange Coast Magazine. She was the fashion and style staff writer for Forbes, had a weekly column at Lucky Magazine and is the founder of a personal styling business, Harrison Style.

Editorial Reviews

06/28/2021

Harrison’s stirring latest (after Montauk) follows the coming-of-age of a young Ziegfeld Follies star. Singer and dancer Olive McCormick, 20, moves from Minneapolis to New York City in 1927 after giving up her baby girl for adoption. Olive had become pregnant after being duped into sex by a man who falsely promised to get her a job with the Ziegfeld Follies, and the delivery resulted in a torn uterus. Facing poverty, Olive left for New York to chase her dream. After impressing Mr. Ziegfeld, she finds fame as flirty, negligee-clad Olive Shine of Ziegfeld’s new risqué supper club; her acts are fresh and innovative, and success follows, replete with a Fifth Avenue apartment and adoring men. Olive gets engaged to wealthy businessman Archie Carmichael, but she hasn’t told him she won’t be able to have more children and, fearing his reaction, breaks up with him. Archie and Mr. Ziegfeld lose everything in the 1929 crash, and Olive scrapes by, working in a nightclub. When Olive decides to tell Archie the truth, it marks a pivotal turning point in their lives. Vintage Follies glamour is made lush and evocative, and is complemented by meaty explorations of hardships faceed by women living in the era. Olive is a rebel worth rooting for and she’ll keep readers turning the pages. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Nicola Harrison brings the exciting world of 1927 New York City to life in The Show Girl." -PopSugar

"Full of surprises and romance, Harrison's novel keeps readers turning the pages...Fans of Elizabeth Gilbert's City of Girls will drink this up." —Booklist

"Lush and evocative...she'll keep readers turning the pages." --Publishers Weekly

“Harrison creates a heady mix of history, drama and romance in a seductive novel guaranteed to transport the reader to a different place and time." –Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of All the Way We Say Goodbye

"In The Show Girl, author Nicola Harrison paints her characters with such a precise brush and sympathetic strokes that they live long after the last page." –Betsy Carter, bestselling author of Lost Souls at The Neptune Inn

“Nicola Harrison brilliantly captures the last gasp of the roaring twenties in this indelible story of love and ambition.” –Jamie Brenner, author of Blush

“Harrison beautifully portrays the trials and tribulations of a Ziegfeld Follies dancer in her new novel, which is brimming with juicy details of Roaring Twenties New York City. Fans of City of Girls will adore this exploration of love and ambition.” –Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

"Harrison has created a heroine so complex and endearing, so utterly fearless and full of life, that readers will not be able to forget her. THE SHOW GIRL is a story as intricate and dazzling as one of Ziegfeld’s legendary revues." –Lynda Cohen Loigman, USA Today bestselling author of The Two-Family House and The Wartime Sisters

“A delicious and entertaining exploration of the life of a Ziegfield girl with Harrison’s trademark ability to plunge the reader deep into the experiences of her characters. The Show Girl is a fast-paced and engaging read that will leave readers giving a standing ovation to Olive and to all women who choose to live life on their own terms.” –Susie Orman Schnall, author of The Subway Girls and We Came Here to Shine

"Harrison has written an energetic, propulsive, delightful book." -Amy Poeppel, author of Small Admissions

From the Publisher