Paulina Bren
March 2, 2021
Simon and Schuster
Publisher's intro: "WELCOME TO NEW YORK’S LEGENDARY HOTEL FOR WOMEN Liberated from home and hearth by World War I, politically enfranchised and ready to work, women arrived to take their place in the dazzling new skyscrapers of Manhattan. But they did not want to stay in uncomfortable boarding houses. They wanted what men already had—exclusive residential hotels with daily maid service, cultural programs, workout rooms, and private dining. Built in 1927 at the height of the Roaring Twenties, the Barbizon Hotel was intended as a safe haven for the “Modern Woman” seeking a career in the arts. It became the place to stay for any ambitious young woman hoping for fame and fortune." My Review Growing up in New York I had heard of the Barbizon. Having read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, I knew that The Amazon was in honor of The Barbizon. So, you can imagine my excitement when I was approved for this book! Honestly, I had no idea how many famous people had resided at the all-women's hotel, or how long the hotel had been around.. I had always thought it stopped being an all-women's hotel in the '40s. So, I was pleasantly surprised by how long the hotel had resided in New York and the history it contained. Paulina Bren's research, her entertaining writing kept me interested in learning about the people of The Barbizon and the history of the early 1920s New York until the '80s. I've read some historical writings where it the books were so mundane with the "who's who" of a place that you just stop reading, but The Barbizon was not that book and I am thrilled it wasn't. I wanted to learn more about its fascinating history. It's the Roaring '20s. The years of freedom for women! The idea of an all-women's hotel at the time of the first wave of female independence seems to me to be a little ironic, only because women weren't trusted to use their own common sense when it came to parents letting their daughters leave the nest and go out into the world to work. These parents thinking their daughters would fall prey to conniving men seems to be a lack of education from them to their daughters. Although The Barbizon gave these girls/women a place to go and live in New York with the "babysitting" of a house-mom and I am grateful for that, I wonder how much more independent and successful these ladies would've been had they had to learn from the experience of being out on their own completely, vs, being guarded as they were by hotel rules? The greatest thing about The Barbizon is the idea that for the first time, the women had what the men had, a place to stay that was all their own, freer than say a boarding house stay. They learned to budget their money for food, rent, and miscellaneous items that were needed to live on their own. The friendships they made while staying at The Barbizon let them know they weren't alone in their drive for being more than what society wanted them to be. We all need friends like that. I appreciate the women who did go out on their own, show the world that it was okay to be single and not have to rush to marriage, and I am sure it was frustrating for those same women to notice that as the years went on women continued to be hampered by being pushed to get married, to give up their work, go back to the kitchens of the '50s. The Barbizon made me realize how strong you had to be to push back and continue to be out on your own when the world told you that your place belonged with someone else and not your own individuality. Paulina Bren kept me wanting to learn more, to find out who these women that stayed at The Barbizon, worked at Ford's Modeling, went to work for the summer at Mademoiselle magazine, and learned to be a secretary at Katherine Gibb's secretarial school. I was fascinated by "The Women" those who stayed longer into their maturity or went to The Barbizon as an older woman, like Molly Brown. I am sure it kept the older women more youthful to be around the young ladies who were sent to New York to learn a trade, to refine themselves, and to become the person they were meant to be before getting married and running a household, or finally find the answer to their dream of becoming an artist, a musician, an actress, a writer, a famous model, or even the dream of just living life to your fullest on your own terms! They couldn't all be Grace Kelly become a famous actress and then a princess, but they could be the person they dream to be and The Barbizon helped them do that! Thank you, NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and Paulina Bren for the opportunity to learn about this magnificent hotel and the history surrounding it so I can share it with my readers, and followers in exchange for an honest review. ** I'm curious to find out why Ms. Bren decided to tell the story of The Barbizon, after all, it has been decades and no one had up until now. I am so glad she did!
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