White Collar Girl

Title: White Collar Girl
Author: Renee Rosen
Published: November 3, 2015 by NAL
Pages: 448
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads

Every second of every day, something is happening. There’s a story out there buried in the muck, and Jordan Walsh, coming from a family of esteemed reporters, wants to be the one to dig it up. But it’s 1955, and the men who dominate the city room of the Chicago Tribune have no interest in making room for a female cub reporter. Instead Jordan is relegated to society news, reporting on Marilyn Monroe sightings at the Pump Room and interviewing secretaries for the White Collar Girl column.

Even with her journalistic legacy and connections to luminaries like Mike Royko, Nelson Algren, and Ernest Hemingway, Jordan struggles to be taken seriously. Of course, that all changes the moment she establishes a secret source inside Mayor Daley’s office and gets her hands on some confidential information. Now careers and lives are hanging on Jordan’s every word. But if she succeeds in landing her stories on the front page, there’s no guarantee she’ll remain above the fold.

My review:

I was initially drawn to this book on NetGalley because of the cover. Kudos to the designers, as they made me venture on to find out what the book was about. Synopsis looked interesting so I requested to read it and was approved. I love it when a cover steers me to a stellar book choice! This book was really interesting on so many levels. I loved the time period, it begins before I was born, but continues up until I was a toddler. I loved that it took place in Chicago. So many books take place in NYC, it's nice to learn a bit about the history of some other major US cities. And the fact that it highlights a woman trying to make her way in a "man's world" (we are in the 50's) was excellent fodder for a plot. I also learned a bit about the inner workings of a newspaper back in that time period, and the corruption surrounding Mayor Daley. A subplot about how Jordan's brother was killed added yet another dimension to the story, although this was probably my least favorite part. It was threaded throughout the book, and while it was interesting, I found myself just wanting to get back to the newsroom. Well written, good characterization, and some real-life news items to provide a historical aspect.

Great book choice to learn about Chicago in the 50's, the newspaper business, and the role of a working woman during this time period. I'm so glad this cover caught my eye!