In a classic example of me seeing someone else’s review, thinking, “I’m sure I won’t feel that way about this book,” and then feeling that way after all: this book contains too much information about other people and not enough information about the hotel that it is suppose to be about. It’s quite readable, but you should know going in that you’re going to learn a lot more about American culture, Sylvia Plath, and Mademoiselle magazine than The Barbazon. 

Overall, I enjoyed it, but it meandered a lot. It’s clear that Bren decided to pad the work to make it novel length, instead of accepting that this could have been a short book. She also takes some serious digs at Sylvia Plath and doesn’t really seem to empathize with her subjects, particularly if they ever told a slightly mean joke. 

I knew nothing about the Barbizon prior to finding this book, and I found the history SO fascinating. From the anecdotes about well known people like Plath to the details about the rooms and what the hotel meant to women from all different walks of life, I really enjoyed reading this. My one note or maybe caveat is that the emphasis on the women's looks is front and center in EVERY anecdote. It wouldn't have bothered me too much, but then their hip/waist/bust measurements were also included over and over and over again. It honestly left me feeling kind of grumpy because it began to feel like the book was parading out the beauty standards women are judged by and going: look how worthy these women were because they had the tiniest of waists and the most hourglass of measurements and the most beautiful faces. I think it could have done the job of explaining how strictly they adhered to beauty standards without quoting body sizes that are exceptionally petite to modern readers over and over and over. That may not stick out for other readers, but it definitely kept this from being a 5 star read for me.