Glimmer as you can / Danielle Martin.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A timely and beautiful story of female friendship and strength." --Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of The Queen's Fortune

"Martin deftly and exquisitely captures this historical moment." --Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of In Another Time

In the glitz and glamor tradition of Beatriz Williams's Tiny Little Thing and Fiona Davis's The Chelsea Girls , Danielle Martin's debut is "a love letter to...women" (Greer Macallister, The Magician's Lie ) that illustrates the courage of women and the strength of sisterhood.

Welcome to the Starlite. Let your true self shine.

1962. In the middle of Brooklyn Heights sits the Starlite- boutique dress shop by day, underground women's club by night. Started by the shop's proprietor after her marriage crumbled, Madeline's social club soon becomes a safe haven for women from all walks of life looking for a respite from their troubled relationships and professional frustrations. These after-hour soirees soon bring two very different women into Madeline's life--Elaine, a British ex-pat struggling to save her relationship, and Lisa, a young stewardess whose plans for the future are suddenly upended--irrevocably changing all three women's lives in ways no one could have predicted.

But when Madeline's ne'er-do-well ex-husband shows up again, the luster of Starlite quickly dampens. As the sisterhood rallies around Madeline, tension begins to eat at the club. When an unspeakable tragedy befalls their sorority, one woman must decide whether to hide the truth from the group or jeopardize her own hopes and dreams. Sure to appeal to readers of Kathleen Tessaro and Suzanne Rindell, Glimmer As You Can captures the heartbeat of an era and the ambitions of a generation of women living in a man's world--a world threatened by a wave of change.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Lisa first comes to the Starlite after having to share a cab ride from her job as a Pan Am stewardess. Her boyfriend, Billy, hadn't picked her up, and instead Elaine offers to share a lift. The Starlite, a dress shop by day and a women's social club some nights, pulls Lisa into its intoxicating freedom. Here, in 1962 New York, women can be themselves, dancing, reading poetry, playing games. That freedom does not come without a cost that the men in their lives will ensure they pay, as Lisa, Elaine, and the Starlite's owner, Madeline, all discover. Disappointed in Billy and scandalized by witnessing his father's infidelity during a transatlantic flight, Lisa is torn about the life before her. Elaine lands the job she always wanted and fears telling her unemployed, temperamental fiancé. And Madeline's contemptible ex-husband, his city-council seat on the line, makes it clear that he will not let her stand in his way. As the glittering Starlite sharply contrasts with harsh reality, Martin crafts a charming anthem to female solidarity.