A Beautiful Rival

A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden

By: Gill Paul

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

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 Publishers

Loved it

I never knew about the story. Absolutely incredible. Well written and well performed. I especially appreciated the epilogue and appreciated that the author explained which parts she took liberty with and which parts were true. Well done.

Easy listening read

Loved the plot and the way the story moved. It is a plausible take on reality.

I saw it as a Broadway show

Loved the narrative. Loved the story. Legendary women. Easy listen. Very good narration. Listened to it all in one weekend.

Couldn’t stop listening

This is the first book I listened to by Gill Paul. I loved it and zipped through it, listening every chance I got. It’s a fascinating story, entertaining, with deep character portrayals. I enjoyed learning about these two fashion icons.

Strong Women

I had absolutely no idea that there was such a fierce rivalry between Elizabeth Arden and Helen Rubinstein in the early 1900s. These two women, each of them being titans of industry in the cosmetic world, were strong, independent, smart, and sadly lonely and untrusting. They lived in a time when women were still expected to marry, manage a home, and raise children. They each faced hardship, failed marriages, and deceit from their supposed friends and family. Despite all of the shared success and hardships and the fact that they had so much in common, they likely never met on friendly terms, and each spent decades of their lives trying to outwit the other. The story is told from each woman's point of view in alternating chapters. I really enjoyed the story and will look through other books by this author. The history was well researched, and from what I've found by reading a little on my own, it is very accurate with a few liberties from the author on private conversations and thoughts/emotions, of course.
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.

Very interesting fictionalized history of two famous beauty icons

The narrator is extremely talented. She can do various accents and differentiate between numerous characters. Perfect diction, pacing, inflections.

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.

Strong and courageous

These two women certainly pioneer in industry, and it was a wonderful fictional history to see what might have been and to remember how hard it was for early women pioneers

Enjoyable Book Misses Crucial Historical Moment

When I read the description of this book, I saw the timeline and the subjects it covered and was very excited because many WWII-era books discuss 'Victory Red' lipstick, which I assumed would be part of this story since Elizabeth Arden developed it. While the book was very good, I was disappointed to reach the end of the war and realize that such a significant aspect of that timeline was skipped over completely, with only a passing mention of a military contract.

Great story. 2 successful women

Narrator great. Story was good and so many things I did not know about either of them. Great read

Not even if it were free

This was terrible, couldn’t even finish. Such unrefined utter nonsense. Two strong intelligent women who rose up in a man’s world, made an iconic name for themselves and created an industry in which they dominated and the author wrote pure petty crap of a storyline for both. No depth of character…..she stole my ribbon, well she stole my crayon first nonsense. All I can say is not only do I want my money back, I want my time back too!