“An exquisitely crafted novel of love discovered and friendship found.”—Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac GirlsRuby’s life glitters with success, but she still must conquer her tragic past and discover what love really looks like.Lily Decker never meant to become a showgirl. As a young girl in small-town Kansas, she danced to forget the pain of losing her family in a car accident. And dancing … family in a car accident. And dancing made her feel beautiful when the attentions of her Uncle Miles only brought shame. In 1967, Lily is grown and ready to leave her past behind. She changes her name to Ruby Wilde and heads to the Rat Pack’s Las Vegas to make a name for herself as a troupe dancer. However, the competition is fierce and she finds work as a showgirl, instead, doing fan-kicks in sky-high headdresses and sparkling costumes. Her new life brims with glamour and excitement, but something is still missing. Is it love? What choices will she make to feel whole again, and at what cost?
With her uncanny understanding of the hidden lives of women, Elizabeth J. Church captures the iconic extravagance of an era and the bravery of a woman who blazes her own path to freedom.
Praise for All the Beautiful Girls
“[Elizabeth] Church’s lively coming-of-age tale transports us to a world of ostrich-plumed headdresses and pinky-ringed mobsters while tracing a tumultuous quest for acceptance and love.”—People
“A gorgeously written novel with the bite of a gin martini, All the Beautiful Girls goes beyond the splashy, gaudy dazzle of Las Vegas in the sixties to reveal the beating heart beneath the glamorous façade of a showgirl with big ambitions.”—Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of At the Water’s Edge
“A stirring bildungsroman that follows a girl from trauma in 1957 Kansas to self-discovery in 1960s Las Vegas . . . Church paints an unflinching, frequently heartbreaking portrait of a resilient young woman’s coming-of-age set against an exciting, glamorous backdrop.”—Publishers Weekly
“Church’s appreciation of language is apparent as she masterfully creates pictures with words . . . All the Beautiful Girls provides a delightful antidote to cold and dark mid-winter days.”—Associated Press
“A beautifully rendered tale of personal redemption filled with friendship, loss, extravagant furs, and feathery headdresses.”—Kirkus Reviews
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It was a little bit of many things. Funny, clever, depressing, but in the end I believe the main character becomes the captain of her ship. She has a wonderful child, people who love and support her and she is doing something she loves.
Ruby was a determined survivor.
Interesting presentation of Vegas in the late 60’s. Some of the story events seem a bit unrealistic but overall an entertaining read. Gave me insight into life in Vegas at that time, the glamorous and not so glamorous.
The book synopsis described a woman becoming a dancer to escape her past, the focus being on her dancing. In actuality , it was a rather dark,bittersweet story about the woman’s struggles with incest, domestic violence , and drug abuse, and how they destroyed her dancing. Disappointing…
I enjoy books that give insight to a population I wouldn’t otherwise know anything about. Getting behind the scenes with Vegas showgirls was fun!
All the Beautiful Girls by author Elizabeth J. Church caught my interest and I could not stop reading about the main character, Lily/Ruby. This story is told through the eyes and life of Lily an eight-year-old girl who is the only survivor of a horrific car accident. Her whole family is killed, which leaves her in the care of an austere aunt and abusive uncle. The story set in the 50’s and 60’s has grief, child abuse, fear, strength, glamour, and dangerous choices. Some of the storylines may have you feeling very protective of lily and therefore may be very emotional for any reader who has experienced sexual abuse as a child. There is also abuse toward Ruby as an adult, but soon she learn to be more careful with her choices.
I enjoyed so much reading of Ruby’s experiences as a hardworking showgirl. It was not an easy profession, but for the young girl who was made to feel unloved and less than her best, Ruby struggles to the top!
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
We meet Lily, an 8-year-old girl who lost her family. She moves in with her Aunt Tate and Uncle Miles. Lily reveals that Uncle Miles is molesting her. She tries to run away at 9 but her uncle says not to do it again because it will kill her aunt Tate. Lily’s classmates give her a hamster but Aunt Tate doesn’t like rodents so Uncle Miles breaks the hamster’s neck. Lily spends the night with her best friend, Beverly Ann and is ready to spill the beans on what her uncle is doing to her but she’s afraid of losing her best friend.
Lily loves to dance so when she graduates high school, she leaves Kansas for the bright lights of Vegas. She also had become friends with The Aviator… Lily also found out the accident that killed her family was caused by her father driving the wrong way on a highway and the Aviator took the blame for it. Lily became a showgirl and was loving so she changed her name to Ruby Wilde. Ruby was also doing drugs… like speed. She couldn’t work the night that MLK was shot and killed.
I loved all the characters especially, Lily, The Aviator, his boyfriend Jack and especially Lily’s daughter, Sloane. Highly recommend this book
Can you ever really overcome the loss of your innocence? That is the question posed from reading All the Beautiful Girlsby Elizabeth J. Church.
When Lily Decker was in the third grade, she lost both of her parents and her sister to a tragic car crash where she was the lone survivor. She goes on to live with her aunt, her mother’s sister, and uncle. However, this is not a house of safety, love and happiness, and she doesn’t remain an innocent child for long. She lives in this house until she is able to finally graduate from high school and move to Vegas to dance.
Now a dancer at the Tropicana, life is a flash of glitter and lights and all of the attention that she never got as a child. As Ruby Wilde, she has to learn to live her life, but things don’t go quite the way that she planned.
This book was very hard to read initially. Not because there is anything wrong with the book, but Lily experiences living with her aunt and uncle was just so heartbreaking. This young girl had already been through enough, why add more to her grief. I just rooted for Lily through the whole book. There are times in the book where you wish you could just be her friend or in her life to provide guidance. She really could have used it. This was a great book to read with the information and history of Vegas and the shows.
Five Stars
**Review by Nikki, Late Night Reviewer for Up All Night with Books**
All the Beautiful Girls is a captivating story of Lily and her journey to overcome childhood trauma. Filled with the glitz and glamour of Vegas in it’s prime, the 60’s and 70’s, All the Beautiful Girls is a wonderful glimpse into the showgirl life. I loved the interaction that Lily had with celebrities from that time period, namely Tom Jones and Sammy Davis, Jr. I had a hard time putting this book down and hated that it ended.
I received a copy of All the Beautiful Girls from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and to be honest, I loved it. I was drawn right into Lily’s story. The early chapters are a bit depressing to read but I still couldn’t put the book down. Lily suffers a lot as a child, after losing her entire family and being taken in by a distant aunt and cruel uncle (not a spoiler – this is how the book opens). While sad at times, Lily’s story is truly one of survival. She endures a lonely childhood yet learns to love and express herself through dance classes. It is her love of dancing that ultimately lands her a long way from the Midwest in Las Vegas.
Once in Vegas, Lily decides a fresh start is in order and leaves the name Lily behind. What follows is quite an adventure for Ruby Wilde. When I wasn’t reading this book, I found myself thinking about it. I was anxious to keep reading Ruby’s story. I wanted to know what happens to her and found myself both rooting for her and wanting to slap some sense into her all at once. I think this would be a great book to pick up for a long plane ride or a day by the beach or pool because once you start reading her story, you won’t want to stop until you know how it all turns out.
The characters, as unlikeable as some were, were beautifully human. They were flawed and filled with emotion. The themes of learning to be independent as well as learning to rely on and trust others were both evident in this book. All in all, I found Lily to be one hell of a woman – strong yet vulnerable, intelligent yet perfectly capable of making stupid choices. I cheered for her the whole book.
I highly recommend this read, which releases on March 6, 2018!
Read full review at KaitsBookshelf.com
All the Beautiful Girls