When We Were Brilliant by Lynn Cullen

 

In 1952, a momentous meeting occurred.  Woman photographer Eve Arnold met Norma Jean Baker, better known as Marilyn Monroe, in the bathroom of the event both were attending.  Marilyn proposed a deal.  The two could collaborate to make each other's careers better.  Marilyn was being pushed as nothing more than a sex machine and Eve could take photographs of her that pushed the envelope and showed the side of Marilyn that few were privileged enough to ever see.  

Over the years, each woman enjoyed the friendship as they fought against the prejudice against women in their careers.  Marilyn became one of the most recognizable woman in the world while Eve managed to hold out and carve out a career that showed stories, not just the latest Hollywood or Broadway star.  Each helped the other as they could and both were bonded together not only by their careers but by the difficulty they both had with love and trying to become a mother.

Lynn Cullen is an American author who writes in the historical fiction genre.  Some of her past books have looked at Poe's wife, Twain's secretary, Dorothy Horstmann whose discovery made the polio vaccine possible and Sofonisba Anguissola who was the first recognized woman author in the Renaissance era.  In this novel, she delves beneath the publicity facade of Marilyn's career to show the orphaned girl who grew up in foster homes.  I especially enjoyed reading Eve's story as I had not previously heard of her and it was interesting to see her carve out a successful career in a time when women had to compete with men just to get a career started, much less to thrive in it.  This book is recommended for readers of historical and women's fiction.