Single Girls - by John Searles (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

An infectious and utterly charming fictionalization of the iconic Helen Gurley Brown's early years at the helm of Cosmopolitan, and the intrepid group of women she took under her wing to create one of the most talked about magazines of all time.

In 1965, Helen Gurley Brown, a soft spoken, self-professed "mouseburger," is fresh off the runaway success of her book Sex and the Single Girl, a revolutionary call to single women urging them not to rush into marriage on anyone's timeline but their own, and, even more radically, to enjoy their sex lives, gloriously free of shame. Upon the book's publication, half the country is outraged (her mother, for one, hates it), and the other half will follow her anywhere. Moved by the thousands of letters arriving at her doorstep from readers desperate for advice, she marches from one Manhattan magazine conglomerate to another, looking for a perch from which to dispense her unconventional wisdom. At her last stop, she finally gets her shot: just three issues to turn around the flailing magazine Cosmopolitan.

Helen quickly assembles a team of smart, savvy single girls up to the task. Soon, their lives become the stuff of magazine cover lines: the gorgeous Book Editor's doomed romance with a man she didn't know was married--and her bold idea for revenge. The (unofficial!) Sex Editor's trip to soak in the world's first champagne glass hot tub, which takes a very wrong turn. The Entertainment Editor's clash with Joan Crawford and interview with a Park Avenue call girl that leads to unexpected revelations.

Single Girls begins at the dawn of Helen's storied tenure and journeys back to her youth, envisioning the devastations and people who forged her into a controversial legend. It imagines the way one unsinkable group of women navigated gender roles and workplace power dynamics long before these issues entered the headlines. With dazzling, high-energy prose, it recreates not just a movement, but a mood: one of ambition, reinvention, and the intoxicating thrill of being young when a new world was possible for a single girl if only she was fearless enough to reach out and grab it.

Review Quotes

Named a Best Book of Summer by Oprah Daily, Harper's Bazaar, and The Boston Globe

"Searles has no end of fun...[His] skill as a master of literary suspense gets a playful spin as he parcels out the story with one archly engineered cliff-hanger after another." --Oprah Daily

"Brimming with retro New York glamour." --The Boston Globe

"[A] witty, tightly written and a heartfelt portrait of a woman who gripped the nation's attention by refusing to pity single women -- and the world of 1960s New York City's media empire is equally seductive." --The Los Angeles Times

"A glorious novel of the glossy magazine's heyday...Searles brings the era and Brown to vibrant life in his breezy and uplifting narrative... It's a smash!" --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Witty, buzzy, and full of magazine-worthy descriptions of midcentury fashion, Single Girls offers an entertaining look into the world of publishing and a tribute to the unassuming editor who revolutionized women's magazines." --Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"Searles's novel sparkles...A beguiling portrait of a woman who created space--and a market--for women's voices. Filled with iconic imagery from the era, as well as thought-provoking conversation topics, this novel successfully reintroduces Helen Gurley Brown to a new generation." --Library Journal (starred review)

"Exuberantly imagined...Searles' affection for the period and his characters infuses the novel with the bright energy of a twirly vintage sundress." --Kirkus Reviews

"Single Girls is an irresistibly fun, sparkling novel that you'll want to binge in one night! John Searles crafts a brilliant portrait of the glamorous, visionary woman who made the culture catch up with American women's real lives--and all the blood, sweat and tears it actually took." --Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians

"A poignant and rollicking good time...Readers will laugh out loud and shed a tear or two." --Wally Lamb, author of She's Come Undone and The River is Waiting

"Single Girls is effervescent and wry, a sparkling literary cocktail that catapults you back to the glittering chaos of Cosmopolitan's heyday. With Helen Gurley Brown at its fearless center and a kaleidoscope of unforgettable women orbiting around her, this novel is both a madcap delight and a sharp reminder of how hard-won every inch of progress has been. John Searles has pulled off a dazzling feat." --Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and The Foursome