The Girls in the Picture
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $22.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kimberly Farr
-
By:
-
Melanie Benjamin
About this listen
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Aviator’s Wife, a “rich exploration of two Hollywood friends who shaped the movies” (USA Today) - screenwriter Frances Marion and superstar Mary Pickford.
“Full of Old Hollywood glamour and true details about the pair’s historic careers...a captivating ode to a legendary bond.” (Real Simple)
Named one of the best books of the year by Real Simple.
It is 1914, and 25-year-old Frances Marion has left her (second) husband and her Northern California home for the lure of Los Angeles, where she is determined to live independently as an artist. But the word on everyone's lips these days is "flickers" - the silent moving pictures enthralling theatergoers. Turn any corner in this burgeoning town and you'll find made-up actors running around, as a movie camera captures it all.
In this fledgling industry, Frances finds her true calling: writing stories for this wondrous new medium. She also makes the acquaintance of actress Mary Pickford, whose signature golden curls and lively spirit have earned her the title "America's Sweetheart". The two ambitious young women hit it off instantly, their kinship fomented by their mutual fever to create, to move audiences to a frenzy, to start a revolution.
But their ambitions are challenged by both the men around them and the limitations imposed on their gender - and their astronomical success could come at a price. As Mary, the world's highest paid and most beloved actress, struggles to live her life under the spotlight, she also wonders if it is possible to find love, even with the dashing actor Douglas Fairbanks. Frances, too, longs to share her life with someone. As in any good Hollywood story, dramas will play out, personalities will clash, and even the deepest friendships might be shattered.
With cameos from such notables as Charlie Chaplin, Louis B. Mayer, Rudolph Valentino, and Lillian Gish, The Girls in the Picture is, at its heart, a story of friendship and forgiveness. Melanie Benjamin perfectly captures the dawn of a glittering new era - its myths and icons, its possibilities and potential, and its seduction and heartbreak.
“A boffo production.... Inspiration is a rare and unexpected gift in a book filled with the fluff of Hollywood, but Benjamin provides it with The Girls in the Picture.” (NPR)
“Profoundly resonant, The Girls in the Picture is at its core, an empowering and fascinating tale of sisterhood.” (Bryce Dallas Howard)
©2018 Melanie Benjamin (P)2018 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Children's Blizzard
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats - leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as 16 were suddenly faced with life-and-death decisions.
-
-
Homesteaders
- By Phyllis Relyea on 01-22-21
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
An American Beauty
- By: Shana Abe
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty. Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and 30 years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair.
-
-
Loved everything about it
- By Leigh H. on 07-10-23
By: Shana Abe
-
The Women of Chateau Lafayette
- By: Stephanie Dray
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Emma Bering, Rachel L. Jacobs
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An epic saga from New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
-
-
An absolute masterpiece of a book!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-15-21
By: Stephanie Dray
-
Mistress of the Ritz
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls, every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel’s director. Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets.
-
-
2nd half was good
- By Amazon Customer on 07-05-19
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Aviator's Wife
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.
-
-
The Megalomaniac's Wife
- By Audrey on 01-19-13
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Reckless Hearts (Short Story)
- A Story of Slim Hawks and Ernest Hemingway
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spain, 1959. Slim Hawks Hayward likes to think she doesn’t get jealous. But when her dear friend Lauren “Betty” Bacall learns that Papa Hemingway has come to watch the bullfights and insists that Slim make introductions, she can’t help feeling protective. Slim has known Papa for years. He always makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the room—even when his wife is standing right beside him. Truth be told, Slim could have learned to love him all those years ago, in the streets of Havana or the mountains of the American West.
-
-
Slim tale
- By L. Wroten on 01-20-20
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Children's Blizzard
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats - leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as 16 were suddenly faced with life-and-death decisions.
-
-
Homesteaders
- By Phyllis Relyea on 01-22-21
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
An American Beauty
- By: Shana Abe
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty. Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and 30 years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair.
-
-
Loved everything about it
- By Leigh H. on 07-10-23
By: Shana Abe
-
The Women of Chateau Lafayette
- By: Stephanie Dray
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Emma Bering, Rachel L. Jacobs
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An epic saga from New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
-
-
An absolute masterpiece of a book!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-15-21
By: Stephanie Dray
-
Mistress of the Ritz
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls, every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel’s director. Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets.
-
-
2nd half was good
- By Amazon Customer on 07-05-19
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Aviator's Wife
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.
-
-
The Megalomaniac's Wife
- By Audrey on 01-19-13
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Reckless Hearts (Short Story)
- A Story of Slim Hawks and Ernest Hemingway
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spain, 1959. Slim Hawks Hayward likes to think she doesn’t get jealous. But when her dear friend Lauren “Betty” Bacall learns that Papa Hemingway has come to watch the bullfights and insists that Slim make introductions, she can’t help feeling protective. Slim has known Papa for years. He always makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the room—even when his wife is standing right beside him. Truth be told, Slim could have learned to love him all those years ago, in the streets of Havana or the mountains of the American West.
-
-
Slim tale
- By L. Wroten on 01-20-20
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
City of Flickering Light
- By: Juliette Fay
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's July 1921, "flickers" are all the rage, and Irene Van Beck has just declared her own independence by jumping off a moving train to escape her fate in a traveling burlesque show. When her friends, fellow dancer Millie Martin and comedian Henry Weiss, leap after her, the trio finds their way to the bright lights of Hollywood with hopes of making it big in the burgeoning silent film industry. But despite the glamour and seduction of Tinseltown, success doesn't come easy, and nothing can prepare Irene, Millie, and Henry for the poverty, temptation, and heartbreak that lie ahead.
-
-
Good listen!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-28-21
By: Juliette Fay
-
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her national bestseller Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin imagined the life of the woman who inspired Alice in Wonderland. Now, in this jubilant new novel, Benjamin shines a dazzling spotlight on another fascinating female figure whose story has never fully been told: a woman who became a nineteenth century icon and inspiration—and whose most daunting limitation became her greatest strength.
-
-
Amazing
- By Darrell Rupe on 08-17-11
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Spectacular
- A Novel
- By: Fiona Davis
- Narrated by: Rachel L. Jacobs, Kimberly Farr
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer.
-
-
Entertaining
- By Maryellen H on 06-15-23
By: Fiona Davis
-
Our Kind of People
- By: Carol Wallace
- Narrated by: Suzanne Barbetta
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Helen Wilcox has one desire: to successfully launch her daughters into society. From the upper crust herself, Helen's unconventional--if happy--marriage has made the girls' social position precarious. Then her husband gambles the family fortunes on an elevated railroad that he claims will transform the face of the city and the way the people of New York live, but will it ruin the Wilcoxes first? As daughters Jemima and Alice navigate the rise and fall of their family--each is forced to re-examine who she is, and even who she is meant to love.
-
-
Listened to it three times
- By Antoinette on 09-30-23
By: Carol Wallace
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
By: Rhys Bowen
-
Dollface
- A Novel of the Roaring Twenties
- By: Renée Rosen
- Narrated by: Rebekkah Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vera Abramowitz is determined to leave her gritty childhood behind and live a more exciting life, one that her mother never dreamed of. Bobbing her hair and showing her knees, the lipsticked beauty dazzles. As the ultimate flapper, Vera captures the attention of two high rollers, a handsome nightclub owner and a sexy gambler. On their arms, she gains entrée into a world filled with bootleg bourbon, wailing jazz, and money to burn. She thinks her biggest problem is choosing between them until the truth comes out. Her two lovers are really mobsters from rival gangs....
-
-
Unsympathetic characters
- By Bruno Roger on 09-11-21
By: Renée Rosen
-
The Invited
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer McMahon
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin, Justine Eyre
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a quest for a simpler life, Helen and Nate have abandoned the comforts of suburbia to take up residence on 44 acres of rural land where they will begin the ultimate, aspirational do-it-yourself project: building the house of their dreams. When they discover that this beautiful property has a dark and violent past, Helen, a former history teacher, becomes consumed by the local legend of Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there a century ago.
-
-
OK story so far - but I cannot take the narrator
- By Ole Andreasen on 05-05-19
By: Jennifer McMahon
-
The Only Woman in the Room
- By: Marie Benedict
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Her beauty almost certainly saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in everything else, she overheard the Third Reich's plans while at her husband's side, understanding more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, and the whirlwind escape landed her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.
-
-
incredible true story about heddy Lamar
- By S. Loew on 01-26-19
By: Marie Benedict
-
The Mitford Affair
- A Novel
- By: Marie Benedict
- Narrated by: Emma Griffiths
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters—each more beautiful, brilliant, and eccentric than the next—dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they've weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her wealthy husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister's lead all the way to Munich, inciting rumors that she's become Hitler's mistress.
-
-
the mitford affair
- By Tbrock on 01-20-23
By: Marie Benedict
-
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl
- By: Renée Rosen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm, in this dazzling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Social Graces and Park Avenue Summer.
-
-
Lots of fun
- By Robin on 05-01-23
By: Renée Rosen
-
The Lost Summers of Newport
- A Novel
- By: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Brittany Pressley, Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America’s most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America’s gilded class—famous for the lavish “summer cottages” of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia “Lucky” Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions.
-
-
If only Andie wasn’t part of the story…
- By jullee on 05-31-22
By: Beatriz Williams, and others
-
All the Ways We Said Goodbye
- A Novel of the Ritz Paris
- By: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
- Narrated by: Helen Sadler, Nicola Barber, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling authors of The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room return with a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel. The heiress...the Resistance fighter...the widow...three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotel.
-
-
Too Many Cooks in this Kitchen
- By Eve453 on 02-15-20
By: Beatriz Williams, and others
Critic reviews
"Set at the dawn of Hollywood, The Girls in the Picture explores the friendship between renowned starlet Mary Pickford and screenwriter Frances Marion. With the artistry for which she has become renowned, Melanie Benjamin has simultaneously created an insightful tale of the relationship between writer and muse and a breathtaking view into Hollywood's most glittering era." (Pam Jenoff, New York Times best-selling author of The Orphan's Tale)
"Melanie Benjamin's The Girls in the Picture is a scintillating journey back in time to the gritty and glamorous days of old Hollywood. With elegant prose and delicious historical detail, Benjamin delivers a timely tale of female friendship - and the powerful duo who dared to dream beyond the narrow roles into which they'd been cast." (Allison Pataki, New York Times best-selling author of Where the Light Falls and Sisi)
Related to this topic
-
Marlene
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in genteel poverty after the First World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family's proper middle-class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin's cabarets and drag balls.
-
-
One of the best books I’ve ever read!!!
- By Rimma Rose on 01-26-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Josephine Baker's Last Dance
- By: Sherry Jones
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones spans Josephine Baker's early years in servitude and poverty in America to her rise to fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt to her activism against discrimination, and her many loves and losses. From 1920s Paris to 1960s Washington to her final, triumphant performance, one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th century comes to stunning life on the page. With intimate prose and comprehensive research, Sherry Jones brings Josephine Baker into focus for the first time in a joyous celebration of a life lived in technicolor.
-
-
Josephine Bakers Last Dance
- By Robin on 09-02-20
By: Sherry Jones
-
A Stranger in the Mirror
- By: Sidney Sheldon
- Narrated by: Shannon Engemann
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Toby Temple is a superstar, the world's funniest man. He gets any woman that he wants, but under the superstar image is a lonely man. Jill Castle is a sensuous starlet. She has a dark and mysterious past and has an ambition even greater than Toby's. Together they rule Hollywood.
-
-
Narrator sounds like Siri
- By Hillary Susan on 06-04-19
By: Sidney Sheldon
-
Stars over Sunset Boulevard
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Los Angeles, present day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister's vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie.... Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and she lands a job on the film set of Gone with the Wind.
-
-
Pass on this
- By Lulew on 03-24-17
By: Susan Meissner
-
Fame
- By: Tilly Bagshawe
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When legendary film director Dorian Rasmirez gambles his fortune on an opulent remake of Wuthering Heights, he knows it’s his last chance to salvage his career. Thanks to a bitter public feud with producer Harry Greene, Dorian desperately needs a hit - a big one - and he’ll do anything to get it. Even cast Hollywood bad girl Sabrina Leon in the lead role. Plucked from obscurity, Sabrina catapulted to fame at an early age. Now the young starlet is as famous for her battles with drugs and alcohol as she is for her intoxicating beauty.
-
-
Started out with good intentions
- By BookLuvr on 06-28-14
By: Tilly Bagshawe
-
Gold Dust
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three women linked by their blood, their dreams...and their sins. From Leningrad in the '70s to America and London in the present day, Kimberley Freeman's new novel follows the lives of two sisters, Lena and Natalia, and their cousin, Sofi, as they move away from Russia and all they have known. Despite promising to always take care of each other, a pact to meet every winter is shattered as their lives change and long-held resentments begin to surface. Can that resentment turn to hatred? To murder?
-
-
It's just not the same without Caroline Lee
- By Maria on 12-04-17
-
Marlene
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in genteel poverty after the First World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family's proper middle-class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin's cabarets and drag balls.
-
-
One of the best books I’ve ever read!!!
- By Rimma Rose on 01-26-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Josephine Baker's Last Dance
- By: Sherry Jones
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones spans Josephine Baker's early years in servitude and poverty in America to her rise to fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt to her activism against discrimination, and her many loves and losses. From 1920s Paris to 1960s Washington to her final, triumphant performance, one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th century comes to stunning life on the page. With intimate prose and comprehensive research, Sherry Jones brings Josephine Baker into focus for the first time in a joyous celebration of a life lived in technicolor.
-
-
Josephine Bakers Last Dance
- By Robin on 09-02-20
By: Sherry Jones
-
A Stranger in the Mirror
- By: Sidney Sheldon
- Narrated by: Shannon Engemann
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Toby Temple is a superstar, the world's funniest man. He gets any woman that he wants, but under the superstar image is a lonely man. Jill Castle is a sensuous starlet. She has a dark and mysterious past and has an ambition even greater than Toby's. Together they rule Hollywood.
-
-
Narrator sounds like Siri
- By Hillary Susan on 06-04-19
By: Sidney Sheldon
-
Stars over Sunset Boulevard
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Los Angeles, present day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister's vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie.... Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and she lands a job on the film set of Gone with the Wind.
-
-
Pass on this
- By Lulew on 03-24-17
By: Susan Meissner
-
Fame
- By: Tilly Bagshawe
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When legendary film director Dorian Rasmirez gambles his fortune on an opulent remake of Wuthering Heights, he knows it’s his last chance to salvage his career. Thanks to a bitter public feud with producer Harry Greene, Dorian desperately needs a hit - a big one - and he’ll do anything to get it. Even cast Hollywood bad girl Sabrina Leon in the lead role. Plucked from obscurity, Sabrina catapulted to fame at an early age. Now the young starlet is as famous for her battles with drugs and alcohol as she is for her intoxicating beauty.
-
-
Started out with good intentions
- By BookLuvr on 06-28-14
By: Tilly Bagshawe
-
Gold Dust
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three women linked by their blood, their dreams...and their sins. From Leningrad in the '70s to America and London in the present day, Kimberley Freeman's new novel follows the lives of two sisters, Lena and Natalia, and their cousin, Sofi, as they move away from Russia and all they have known. Despite promising to always take care of each other, a pact to meet every winter is shattered as their lives change and long-held resentments begin to surface. Can that resentment turn to hatred? To murder?
-
-
It's just not the same without Caroline Lee
- By Maria on 12-04-17
-
American Rose
- A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee
- By: Karen Abbott
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the critically acclaimed Sin in the Second City, best-selling author Karen Abbott “pioneered sizzle history” (USA Today). Now she returns with the gripping and expansive story of America’s coming-of-age - told through the extraordinary life of Gypsy Rose Lee and the world she survived and conquered. America in the Roaring Twenties. Vaudeville was king. Talking pictures were only a distant flicker. Speakeasies beckoned beyond dimly lit doorways; money flowed fast and free.
-
-
Well done biography of a complicated Icon
- By Moire on 01-27-11
By: Karen Abbott
-
Silver Wattle
- By: Belinda Alexandra
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In fear for their lives after the sudden death of their mother, Adéla and Klára must flee Prague to find refuge with their uncle in Australia. Later, Adéla becomes a film director at a time when the local industry is starting to feel the competition from Hollywood. But even while success is imminent, the issues of family and an impossible love are never far away.
-
-
Groan, Snore and Wince!
- By OrangeWisteria on 02-12-12
-
Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
-
-
Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
-
Dear Cary
- My Life with Cary Grant
- By: Dyan Cannon
- Narrated by: Dyan Cannon
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With unparalleled honesty, Dyan Cannon shares the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of her magical romance and stormy marriage to screen legend Cary Grant.He was the ultimate star, defining Hollywood glamour as well as cinematic achievement. She was a bright new actress, beautiful and funny, who would one day prove her talent by being the first woman to receive Academy Award nominations for her work on-screen and behind the camera. When he asked to meet Dyan, she assumed it was for an acting part, but he had a different role in mind for her....
-
-
A Wasted 10 Hours
- By NANCAN on 10-19-12
By: Dyan Cannon
-
The Actor and the Housewife
- By: Shannon Hale
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Becky, a housewife with screenwriting dreams, attracts the interest of Felix, a Hollywood star, the two quickly become friends. Though the sexual tension is obvious, Becky has no intention of cheating on her husband - but would Felix cheat on his wife? As their friendship blossoms, rumors and suspicion threaten to derail their platonic love.
-
-
Thought Provoking
- By sts2000 on 09-14-09
By: Shannon Hale
-
Wild Lavender
- By: Belinda Alexandra
- Narrated by: Kate Hood
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Simone Fleurier is wrenched from her home on a Provencal lavender farm at the age of 14 after the accidental death of her father. Forced to become a maid at the boarding house of her Aunt Augustine in Marseilles, Simone's life is hard and impoverished. But one of her aunt's boarders, the beautiful Camille Casal, a star at the local music hall, gives Simone a dream: that one day she too will be a famous singer and dancer.
-
-
An Extrodinary Story
- By Wade on 08-16-08
-
The Mayfair Bookshop
- A Novel of Nancy Mitford and the Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Eliza Knight
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford’s seemingly dazzling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life.
-
-
Perfectly Voices, Upliftingly Fun
- By Syd Young on 04-15-22
By: Eliza Knight
-
The Girl from the Savoy
- A Novel
- By: Hazel Gaynor
- Narrated by: Jennifer Jones, Lucy Rayner, Paul Fox
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dolly Lane is a dreamer, a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but her life has been fractured by the Great War. Memories of the soldier she loved, of secret shame and profound loss, by turns pull her back and spur her on to make a better life. When she finds employment as a chambermaid at London's grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly takes a step closer to the glittering lives of the Bright Young Things who thrive on champagne, jazz, and rebellion.
-
-
WONDERFUL‼️❤️❤️❤️
- By Leslie Gail Mnich on 12-05-19
By: Hazel Gaynor
-
Veil of Roses
- By: Laura Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tamila Soroush wanted it all. But in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dreams are a dangerous thing for a girl. Tami abandons them…until her twenty-seventh birthday, when her parents give her a one-way ticket to America, hoping she will “go and wake up her luck.” If they have their way, Tami will never return to Iran…which means she has three months to find a husband in America.
-
-
Rooting for freedom
- By Newman on 07-10-13
By: Laura Fitzgerald
-
Joplin's Ghost
- By: Tananarive Due
- Narrated by: Lizan Mitchell
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bram Stoker Award finalist Tananarive Due crafts chilling tales of suspense.
In Joplin's Ghost, 24-year-old R&B phenomenon Phoenix Smalls is on the cusp of fame and fortune. But she is haunted by the spirit of Jazz legend Scott Joplin. After a series of sultry, erotic encounters with the ghost, and with the pressures of stardom closing in on her, Phoenix begins to fear for her life and career.
-
-
Sweeping--a fabulous read
- By Dinisle on 12-24-06
By: Tananarive Due
-
Once upon a Prince
- A Royal Happily Ever After
- By: Rachel Hauck
- Narrated by: Lisa Larsen
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess — just to marry the man she has loved for 12 years. But life isn’t going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up with her instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.
-
-
Too much religion
- By Ashley on 06-15-21
By: Rachel Hauck
-
Duet
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the London pop scene, to the opera stages of Europe; from a tiny Greek island, to a stifling manor house full of secrets and deceptions; from the sun-drenched Queensland coast, to the silent outback; Angela and Ellie are two women both looking for something. One in search of her identity and her memory; the other in search of the love that she had and lost; theirs is a duet whose last note will not be sung until the heart-stopping climax, when a shadow from the past returns to claim them both.
-
-
Gosh that was a great story!
- By Anonymous User on 06-10-09
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Mistress of the Ritz
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls, every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel’s director. Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets.
-
-
2nd half was good
- By Amazon Customer on 07-05-19
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Reckless Hearts (Short Story)
- A Story of Slim Hawks and Ernest Hemingway
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spain, 1959. Slim Hawks Hayward likes to think she doesn’t get jealous. But when her dear friend Lauren “Betty” Bacall learns that Papa Hemingway has come to watch the bullfights and insists that Slim make introductions, she can’t help feeling protective. Slim has known Papa for years. He always makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the room—even when his wife is standing right beside him. Truth be told, Slim could have learned to love him all those years ago, in the streets of Havana or the mountains of the American West.
-
-
Slim tale
- By L. Wroten on 01-20-20
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Aviator's Wife
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.
-
-
The Megalomaniac's Wife
- By Audrey on 01-19-13
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Alice I Have Been
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Samantha Eggar
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole - and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.
-
-
Wonderful...but missing the author's note
- By Christine on 03-05-10
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Children's Blizzard
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats - leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as 16 were suddenly faced with life-and-death decisions.
-
-
Homesteaders
- By Phyllis Relyea on 01-22-21
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Beautiful People
- By: Michelle Gable
- Narrated by: Eleanor Caudill
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1961, and for Margo Hightower, everything is about to change. True, her engagement is off, her family has fallen in scandal, and she's completely broke. But she’s just been hired as assistant to photographer Slim Aarons—famous for his vibrant pictures of high society, royalty, and Hollywood stars—and she knows this opportunity is her ticket to something better.
-
-
This was pure escapism in the glitzy world of Palm Beach Society in the 1960’s
- By adenia robbins on 11-20-24
By: Michelle Gable
-
Mistress of the Ritz
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls, every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel’s director. Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets.
-
-
2nd half was good
- By Amazon Customer on 07-05-19
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Reckless Hearts (Short Story)
- A Story of Slim Hawks and Ernest Hemingway
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spain, 1959. Slim Hawks Hayward likes to think she doesn’t get jealous. But when her dear friend Lauren “Betty” Bacall learns that Papa Hemingway has come to watch the bullfights and insists that Slim make introductions, she can’t help feeling protective. Slim has known Papa for years. He always makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the room—even when his wife is standing right beside him. Truth be told, Slim could have learned to love him all those years ago, in the streets of Havana or the mountains of the American West.
-
-
Slim tale
- By L. Wroten on 01-20-20
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Aviator's Wife
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.
-
-
The Megalomaniac's Wife
- By Audrey on 01-19-13
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Alice I Have Been
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Samantha Eggar
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole - and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.
-
-
Wonderful...but missing the author's note
- By Christine on 03-05-10
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Children's Blizzard
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats - leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as 16 were suddenly faced with life-and-death decisions.
-
-
Homesteaders
- By Phyllis Relyea on 01-22-21
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
The Beautiful People
- By: Michelle Gable
- Narrated by: Eleanor Caudill
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1961, and for Margo Hightower, everything is about to change. True, her engagement is off, her family has fallen in scandal, and she's completely broke. But she’s just been hired as assistant to photographer Slim Aarons—famous for his vibrant pictures of high society, royalty, and Hollywood stars—and she knows this opportunity is her ticket to something better.
-
-
This was pure escapism in the glitzy world of Palm Beach Society in the 1960’s
- By adenia robbins on 11-20-24
By: Michelle Gable
What listeners say about The Girls in the Picture
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joan
- 02-15-18
Fabulous
I truly like the author and have read several of her other books. It’s difficult to remember that she writes biographical novels. I have read nonfiction about this era in films so they melded together. Great book that I highly recommend. Issues with successful women don’t seem to have changed much!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RueRue
- 01-29-18
Disappointing
A big disappointment. I've enjoyed this author's previous books, but this was a bore. In the dedication, the author thanks an editor who "rescued this from the slush pile". It should have been left there, or at least been given a MAJOR rewrite. I'm sorry to be cruel, but this was really dull.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Aaron Leonard
- 02-12-18
More Fran, a little less Mary.
I enjoyed learning more about the life and career of Francis Marion. The Mary Pickford portions weren’t as interesting. I found the narrator completely wrong to voice these young, vibrant women.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- crissy
- 06-05-19
beautiful story of two women
I loved this book. i have always been fascinated with the early stars of the movies. This book was fun and tragic and everything in between. The author does a great job of giving the characters a voice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anne
- 04-25-18
Melanie Benjamin is the master of this genre.
Nobody writes character-centric historical fiction better than Melanie Benjamin. Her story of Frances Marion, Mary Pickford and the early days of Hollywood is not only entertaining, but informative and enlightening as well.
As for the narration: Kimberly Farr is a fantastic actress, and I will definitely listen to other books she narrates.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G. Rosson
- 02-15-20
interesting subject, a bit melodramatic
I like old Hollywood stories. this historical fiction had some interesting info, but the dramatization didn't work for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- TLC
- 07-25-18
Narration kills it
I think I might have tolerated the book quite a bit more had the narration not been so horribly overdone. It was really hard to listen to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ATD
- 08-05-18
Stick with it
Story is hard to get into but is interesting. It serves as good background to current Hollywood.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elle Knowles
- 01-29-18
You will want to know more...
As always with one of Melanie Benjamin’s novels, I want to know more. Her writing makes me ask questions, do research, and read more about the stars of her books. I’m addicted to historical fiction and old movies so here I had a combination of both. Another wonderful story of days gone by that made me to read through until the end with hardly a break...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pamela
- 03-20-18
If you’re a movie buff-this book is for you!
I absolutely loved this book. I find the history of early Hollywood and the growth of the film industry to be fascinating.
I never knew much about Mary Pickford and I knew nothing about screen writer Frances Marion. It is truly amazing how much women influenced the movies.
Although almost all studio heads were men, this industry paved the way for the women of today.
I am grateful to these women who let nothing stop them and realized the force that women’s friendship could make almost anything possible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!