When We Were Brilliant - by Lynn Cullen (Hardcover)

About the Book

"They were an unlikely pair-a blond bombshell and hawkish photographer-but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives in this dazzling new novel from national bestselling author Lynn Cullen. In 1951, Norma Jeane Baker follows documentary photographer Eve Arnold into a powder room, the first night they meet. She has a proposition for her: Norma Jean built Marilyn Monroe to be photographed, and she wants Eve to do it. Eve, who is better than anyone she's seen at capturing beauty, at shedding light on her subjects. Together, they can help each other. Together, she says, they can make something brilliant. Skeptical of this cipher of a young woman, Eve demurs. But she keeps getting drawn back into Marilyn's orbit. Until the women come to recognize something in each other, something fundamental. Nothing will get in the way of what they want, and when Marilyn's star takes off to teetering heights, neither will ever be the same. A lavish and transporting novel, When We Were Brilliant captures the halcyon days of an icon and the grit of women determining their own futures as it explores the exceptional and complicated friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

They were an unlikely pair--a blond bombshell and a photographer determined to be taken seriously--but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives in this dazzling new novel from the national bestselling author of Mrs. Poe and The Woman with the Cure.

In 1952, Norma Jeane Baker follows documentary photographer Eve Arnold into a powder room on the night they first meet. She has a proposition for her. Norma Jeane created Marilyn Monroe to be photographed, and she wants Eve to do it. Eve is better than anyone she's seen at revealing a person's inner truth. Together they can help each other. Together, she says, they can make something brilliant.

Skeptical of this cipher of a young woman, Eve demurs. She's looking for more serious subjects than this ambitious starlet. But she keeps getting drawn back into Marilyn's orbit, and the women come to recognize something in each other--something fundamental. Nothing will get in the way of what they want, and when Marilyn's star takes off to teetering heights, neither will ever be the same.

A lavish and transporting novel, When We Were Brilliant captures the halcyon days of an icon and the grit of women determining their own futures as it explores the exceptional and complicated friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold.

Review Quotes

"What was Norma Jeane Baker really like, away from the blinding spotlight and out of the hair and makeup that made her Marilyn? That's the question that has haunted our collective imagination for decades, and lucky for us readers, that is precisely the topic that Lynn Cullen takes up in her latest novel, When We Were Brilliant. This is a nuanced character study that immerses readers directly into the honest, complicated, and intimate relationship between Marilyn Monroe and her most trusted photographer and collaborator, the fierce and indomitable Eve Arnold. With a string of luminous cameos including Joan Crawford, Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly, this is a whirlwind tour through both the light and the dark of Hollywood's golden era--and the leading lady who continues to fascinate us to this day."--Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of It Girl

"Bringing to life the surprising friendship between Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe and renowned photographer Eve Arnold, When We Were Brilliant is exhilarating, heartrending, and filled with verve and glamor. Author Lynn Cullen goes behind the legend to portray the real Marilyn Monroe, a complex woman from a hardscrabble background who was vulnerable and insecure but also tenacious, focused, and much more talented an actress than she was given credit for. Cullen powerfully captures the almost-impossible lives of professional women in the 1950s and '60s, emotionally torn by the conflicting demands of family and work. When We Were Brilliant kept me up reading late into the night--because Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold are portrayed so vividly, so compellingly, that they seemed to become my friends, as well as each other's."--Lauren Belfer, New York Times bestselling author of City of Light and Ashton Hall

About the Author

Lynn Cullen's bestselling novels, including The Woman with the Cure, The Sisters of Summit Avenue, Mrs. Poe, Twain's End, The Creation of Eve, and Reign of Madness, have been translated into seventeen languages and are the recipients of various honors, including NPR Great Read, Oprah Book of the Week, People Magazine Book of the Week, Indie Next Selection, and Atlanta Magazine Best of the Year. She lives in Atlanta.