
A Beautiful Rival
A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden
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Narrated by:
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Lisa Flanagan
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By:
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Gill Paul
About this listen
In this stunning new novel, bestselling author Gill Paul reveals the unknown history of cosmetic titans Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein and their infamous rivalry that spanned not only decades, but also broken marriages, personal tragedies, and a world that was changing dramatically for women—perfect for fans of Fiona Davis, Marie Benedict, and Beatriz Williams.
Who would have guessed that the business of making women beautiful was so cutthroat?
They could have been allies: two self-made millionaires who invented a global industry, in an era when wife and mother were supposed to be the highest goals for their sex. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein each founded empires built on grit and determination…and yet they became locked in a feud spanning three continents, two world wars, and the Great Depression.
Brought up in poverty, Canadian-born Elizabeth Arden changed popular opinion, persuading women from all walks of life to buy skincare products that promised them youth and beauty. Helena Rubinstein left her native Poland, and launched her company with scientific claims about her miracle creams made with anti-ageing herbs.
And when it came to business, nothing was off-limits: poaching each other’s employees, copying each other’s products, planting spies, hiring ex-husbands, and one-upping each other every chance they had. This was a rivalry from which there was no surrender! And through it all were two women, bold, brazen, and determined to succeed—no matter the personal cost.
In this sweeping novel from the bestselling author of Jackie and Maria and The Manhattan Girls, two larger-than life fashion icons come alive with all their passion, bitterness, and ambition as they each try to live the American dream.
©2023 Gill Paul (P)2023 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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An unexpected jewel with refreshing perspectives
- By Amazon Customer on 12-17-16
By: Gill Paul
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The Riviera House
- By: Natasha Lester
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections. They have no idea she’s carefully decoding their notes and smuggling information to the Resistance. But Éliane is playing a dangerous game. Does she dare trust the man she once loved with her secrets, or will he only betray her once again?
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Intriguing story
- By Kristen on 10-11-21
By: Natasha Lester
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Hurricane Season
- By: Lauren K. Denton
- Narrated by: Devon O'day
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Betsy and Ty Franklin, owners of Franklin Dairy Farm in Southern Alabama, have long since buried their desire for children of their own. While Ty manages their herd of dairy cows, Betsy busies herself with the farm’s day-to-day operations and tries to forget her dream of motherhood. But when her free-spirited sister, Jenna, drops off her two young daughters for “just two weeks”, Betsy’s carefully constructed wall of self-protection begins to crumble.
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Pleasant Story
- By cgashley on 05-05-18
By: Lauren K. Denton
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Our Darkest Night
- A Novel of Italy and the Second World War
- By: Jennifer Robson
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the autumn of 1943, and life is becoming increasingly perilous for Italian Jews like the Mazin family. With Nazi Germany now occupying most of her beloved homeland, and the threat of imprisonment and deportation growing ever more certain, Antonina Mazin has but one hope to survive - to leave Venice and her beloved parents and hide in the countryside with a man she has only just met.
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Good book overall, but too sappy to be a historical novel
- By Gina Nello on 03-30-21
By: Jennifer Robson
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The German Heiress
- A Novel
- By: Anika Scott
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Clara Falkenberg, once Germany's most eligible and lauded heiress, earned the nickname "the Iron Fräulein" during World War II for her role operating her family's ironworks empire. It’s been nearly two years since the war ended, and she’s left with nothing but a false identification card and a series of burning questions about her family's past. With nowhere else to run to, she decides to return home and take refuge with her dear friend, Elisa.
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I have never heard of a story like this
- By paula wright on 05-18-20
By: Anika Scott
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All the Ways We Said Goodbye
- A Novel of the Ritz Paris
- By: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
- Narrated by: Helen Sadler, Nicola Barber, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling authors of The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room return with a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel. The heiress...the Resistance fighter...the widow...three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotel.
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Too Many Cooks in this Kitchen
- By Eve453 on 02-15-20
By: Beatriz Williams, and others
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The Secret Letter
- By: Debbie Rix
- Narrated by: Jacqueline King
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Germany, 1939. A tumbledown farmhouse, on the outskirts of a close-knit village in the heart of the rolling hills of Bavaria. A once happy family home torn apart by Nazi rule. And one young girl who refuses to give up on what she believes in...London, 2018: When 94-year-old Imogen receives a letter addressed to her in neat, unfamiliar handwriting, she notices the postmark is stamped from Germany - and it sends shivers down her spine....
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Compelling
- By Book Nerd on 01-06-20
By: Debbie Rix
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Behind Every Good Man
- A Novel
- By: Sara Goodman Confino
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s a doozy of a bad day for Beverly Diamond when she catches her husband, Larry, in a compromising position with his secretary. What’s a DC suburban wife to do with a soon-to-be ex, two young kids, and no degree or financial support in 1962? Beat the louse at his own game, that’s what.
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So entertaining
- By Compute on 09-16-24
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Radar Girls
- By: Sara Ackerman
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Daisy Wilder prefers the company of horses to people, bare feet and salt water to high heels and society parties. Then, in the dizzying aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Daisy enlists in a top secret program, replacing male soldiers in a war zone for the first time. Under fear of imminent invasion, the WARDs guide pilots into blacked-out airstrips and track unidentified planes across Pacific skies. But not everyone thinks the women are up to the job, and the new recruits must rise above and work side by side despite the resistance and heartache they meet along the way.
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Lovely inspiring WWII tale from an unusual perspective
- By Julie Linker on 09-19-21
By: Sara Ackerman
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The Winthrop Agreement
- A Novel
- By: Alice Sherman Simpson
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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When Rivkah Milmanovitch arrives at Ellis Island, her husband is not waiting for her as promised. Alone and pregnant, she makes her way to the Lower East Side tenement of an old friend. Lottie Aarons, whose husband went out for a newspaper and never returned, takes Rivkah in and they work side-by-side in dispiriting sweatshops. Rivkah gives birth to a daughter, Mimi, determined that her child will have a better life in America.
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Loved The Story; Loved The Narrator
- By Particular Fuss Pot on 01-26-24
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A Brilliant Life
- My Mother’s Inspiring True Story of Surviving the Holocaust
- By: Rachelle Unreich
- Narrated by: Rachel Griffiths
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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As Mira is nearing the end of her life, her daughter Rachelle wants to find out how her mother had lived through four concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and a Death March. There was a mystery to her survival, it seemed—which perhaps had something to do with the strange things that always happened around her. And, incredibly, when giving testimony later in life, she says that it was during this time—despite witnessing the depths of man’s cruelty—that she learned about “the goodness of people.”
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Phenomenal. Moving.
- By Char J on 05-06-25
By: Rachelle Unreich
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The Collector's Daughter
- A Novel of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb
- By: Gill Paul
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Lady Evelyn Herbert was the daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon, brought up in stunning Highclere Castle. Popular and pretty, she seemed destined for a prestigious marriage, but she had other ideas. Instead, she left behind the world of society balls and chaperones to travel to the Egyptian desert, where she hoped to become a lady archaeologist, working alongside her father and Howard Carter in the hunt for an undisturbed tomb.
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Great read!
- By Peddoc on 11-25-21
By: Gill Paul
Loved it
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Easy listening read
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I saw it as a Broadway show
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Couldn’t stop listening
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The narrator did a good job and made this one a pleasant listen.
Mild spoiler warning:
There is a chapter near the end of the book that describes a very sad scene involving animals. There are descriptions of injury and suffering that I had to skip past. I imagine while I read, and those are images that will never leave my mind, so I wanted to give fair warning to anyone else with a soft heart for animals. If you, like me, want to skip this chapter, you'll know it because Elizabeth Arden gets a call in the middle of the night about a fire. Just go ahead and ove to the next chapter.
Strong Women
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The novel was a times a bit wearing due to the very lengthy entity between the two main characters over decades. But it was always interesting and included many Scenes in which the lives and the businesses evolved and developed over many years.
Very interesting fictionalized history of two famous beauty icons
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Strong and courageous
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Enjoyable Book Misses Crucial Historical Moment
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Great story. 2 successful women
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Not even if it were free
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