The Subway Girls by Susie Orman Schnall

Alternate time lines. History as well as a family story with a touch of romance. Whats not to like.

1949 may have been modern but for Charlotte it was still ruled by what her parents wanted for her. Twenty one and wanting a career of her own in advertising was frowned on by her father who wanted her to join their failing store. There was no choice. The Subway Girls advertisement was her way out and she took it. Her family was furious especially her father who saw it as disobedience to his wishes but she wanted to use the opportunity to get attention focussed on their failing hardware business with an idea of boosting their sales.

When the winner unexpectedly failed to turn up, the Subway Girl title fell to Charlotte who thought it was a god given opportunity to use it for her family's benefit.

Fast forward to 1970 and though Olivia is tough and independent, in the business world there is still a sense of male chauvinism and Olivia finds it in unexpected places. Her lover who is also her boss - she expected a degree of fairness and from her colleagues she expected fair play. When they undercut her directly, pinching her ideas as their own she knows she has to find a winning strategy not just for the firm going under but also for her own pride. Stumbling upon the Subway Girls idea of 1949 she knows she has found the winner she was looking for. Tracking down the girls who are now old women and getting their stories and linking the two eras is this story.

Bringing to light a little known piece of history along with a touch of romance and a family saga as well is very well put together.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of St. Martin's Press.

On another note, my computer is playing up. I am finding it hard to do reviews and even worse forward reviews of such books on Goodreads and Amazon and Netgalley. Very frustrating.