Too much telling instead of showing so I didn't feel drawn into the story. "Girl" and "girls" have been used in far too many titles and it needs to stop. I also didn't care for the gushing over the movie "Birth of a Nation" without any comment on the problems with that movie.

4.5
Thanks to NetGalley and Melanie Benjamin for the opportunity to read and review.

THE GIRLS IN THE PICTURE by Melanie Benjamin completely captivated me! I was not at all familiar with the start of the movie industry nor had any interest (I thought) in learning about the founding of silent films. Ms. Benjamin has deftly portrayed the two girls, Mary Pickford and Frances Marion. These characters are dynamic and multi dimensional. The fact that they were real people does not take away from Ms. Benjamin’s creative skill in making their voices so authentic! THE GIRLS IN THE PICTURE is infused with facts as well as with well researched fiction. It is, after all, in the Historical fiction genre. The way the author brought these two women to life, the entire early motion pictures industry to life, is simply mesmerizing. There are numerous and interesting factoids scattered throughout. I am glad to say I am more educated having read this book! I have not read any book by Melanie Benjamin before this one. I am estactic to learn of her and am looking forward to reading all of her historical fiction books! Highly and enthusiastically recommended! 4.5 stars (minus .5 due to too much verbiage at some points. It dragged just a bit and seemed the dialogue became redundant.)

I received a free digital copy of this book from Net Galley to read and review.

The Girls in the Picture is an historical fictionalization of the relationship between actress Mary Pickford and screenwriter Frances Marion. The two women were pioneers in the budding movie industry and their support of each other strengthened their ambition and success.

Told from alternating points of view, the first half of the book was the most interesting to me. But Mary's struggles with alcohol took a toll on her relationships, her career and her friendship with Frances was a victim. I think this section of the book was too long and repetitive.

Overall, and easy and interesting read

I was truly disappointed in this book. I love reading about old Hollywood but this was so boring and Mary was awful.

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin tells the little known tale of two of Hollywood's earliest stars. Mary Pickford was the It actress of her time and France Marion became one of the best screenwriters. Somehow these two formed an intense friendship instead of the rivalry that might have been expected. Before reading this book I had never heard of these two amazing women. They created the movie star image of Hollywood in a time where women were not typically seen in positions of power. What an inspiring read this book is for all women. Read and enjoy!

First line: Lately, the line between real life and the movies has begun to blur.

Summary: Hollywood was not always the glamorous place it is today. At the dawn of the motion pictures were Frances Marion and Mary Pickford. Their friendship and collaboration created many of the earliest movies. Each took their careers in hand and made a name for themselves. Marion as a screenwriter and Mary as “America’s Sweetheart”. Through a duel narration, we see the changes of the movies, their lives and the nation.

Highlights: Melanie Benjamin is becoming one of my favorite authors. She writes amazing stories of strong women. I am completely enamored with Mary Pickford and Frances Marion after reading this novel. I have inter library loaned several of their movies as I read in order to watch the movies discussed in the story. Having never watched a silent film, it will be a fun experience. My first one will be Sparrows starring Mary Pickford. I really liked both characters. Each woman is independent but they have a strong friendship that they rely on as well. The history behind the beginning of the motion picture was fascinating to see through the eyes of women who actually experienced it when women were barely working outside the home.

Lowlights: The middle of the plot was a little slow. Especially when Frances was in Europe during the First World War. It is an important point in her life but when the rest of the story is centered around Hollywood and the movies it was not as interesting.

FYI: If you like The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty then read this!

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and this book really intrigued me when I first read about it. The story is new and well written and the characters well developed. I would read more by this author in the future!

Loved it! The dialogue and inner thoughts and intentions may be completely fictitious, but this is an amazing look at the beginnings of Hollywood, Mary Pickford, the first truly great (silent) film star, and Frances Marion, her friend and scenarist, who became the highest paid screenwriter of the time. Mary and Frances were two strong women, and strong friends, who helped shape Hollywood and films, and did it on their terms - in a man's world. I pretty much loved everything about this book - it's a fast, fascinating look at these two women and their fates, the times in general, things they accomplished and created in Hollywood that are still important today, and what it costs people to succeed in that world. It's a very entertaining read, and sometimes very moving. I will most definitely be looking for Melanie Benjamin's other works. Many thanks to NetGalley, and Randon House/Ballantine/Delacorte Press for the ARC. Highly recommend! 4.5 stars.

A very well written story about two women making strides and their marks upon a fledgling Hollywood.

I really couldn't get into this book no matter how hard i tried. I was really excited to read this story as a fictional background into the lives of some of Hollywood's most famous/influential players.

The jump back and forth in time and characters, it just didn't hold my attention and that has made me very sad. I will try to read it at a little later date when I'm not pushed on deadline.

So we have all have heard of Pickfair, the fairy tale place where everyone who was anybody wanted to go, the home of Hollywood’s first power couple, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. But what is rarely discussed is who Mary Pickford was prior to being the first movie star and the aftermath. In this fictionalized account of the life of Pickford as well as her good friend, Frances Marion, a screen writer who wrote Oscar winning screen plays, the book is about Hollywood but beyond that it is about friendship, ambition, women who were successful in a man’s world, and a history of the early days of moving pictures.

From a historical standpoint, it is quite an interesting novel as the author traces the evolution of the movies from the disdain of stage actors as well as ordinary people for those who made films to the worshiping of film actors. From short film reels to the first epic film, D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, to Talkies and the formation of the studio system as well as the formation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, much of which involved Pickford. The movies that were made, the names of the people involved, as well as the technical aspects of movie making are all accurate and interesting to learn about.

The relationship between the two women is deftly dealt with. Two women who found in the other someone who was like themselves, women who had their own ideas, who loved their work, and who were similarly ambitious. The depiction of the waning and waxing of their relationship with sometimes hurt feelings, petty jealousies, and inevitability of drifting apart due to life itself, but underneath it all real warmth and affection for each other. The book is at its best when focused on their relationship. These famous figures are depicted as real people with real emotions and real flaws.

What is a little repetitive is the reasoning for the ambitions of both women and how hard it was to make it in a man’s world. The fact that Mary Pickford (who was really Gladys Louise Smith from Toronto, Canada) was the breadwinner of her family from an early age was driven home time and time again. It was surprising to learn the number of women screen writers in the early years of Hollywood which then changed as the movie business changed. The book is a little too repetitive in that aspect though the point is well-taken as even now there are not enough women in the industry almost 100 years later.

And what happened to the marriage of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks? You will also find that out in The Girls in the Picture.

Delightful, informative, captivating, deep and interesting are a few of the adjectives that popped into my mind after reading this wonderful book. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks and so many of the other names of Hollywood past were only words I heard my mother and grandmother speak about. Now I feel as if I know them and understand their time. a little better. It may sound cliché, but I couldn’t put the book down once I began and I felt like I really came to know Mary and her struggles as both a child actor and while she was caught up in the burgeoning Hollywood drama as a pioneer in the great motion picture industry. This is a book and an author that I will recommend to all of my reading friends and to my book club. Thanks Netgalley for the advance copy of this book to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine for an ARC of this story in return for my honest review. Fascinating fictionalized account of Mary Pickford-an early movie star and her friend Frances Marion-early Hollywood's highest earning screenwriter. I didn't know much about Pickford and nothing about Marion. Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks were two of the original founders of United Artists. This book kept me interested both in the complicated relationship between the two women and also in the history of Hollywood and the place of women there. Not surprisingly, there were not many differences between how women were treated in Hollywood both then and now-very timely story. I found myself looking up both women online to try to get more information about them after reading it. Excellent historical fiction!

What an interesting perspective on the original queen of the silent movie era, Mary Pickford. Mary Pickford and Frances Marion (her scenarist) were women involved in a man’s industry and they did not let that tiny fact hold them back from very successful careers. The book was easy to read, informative, and paid homage to the original actors and actresses and studio heads who created the modern day vision we now know to be Hollywood. Prior to reading The Girls in the Picture, I had little knowledge of the silent film industry but the author paints quite a picture of what it took to ‘make it’ during such a tumultuous time, factoring in World War I and the introduction to talkies. I enjoyed this book as it entertained me with wonderful stories about the big names in Hollywood and how glamorous couples ruled from their California castles.

I am not sure how I feel about this book. Melanie Benjamin reanimates two fascinating characters and weaves behind the scene details that though they may be fiction, have a ring of truth that makes the reader feel as both a voyeur and an innocent bystander. A coming of age set between the ‘flickers’ and the ‘talkies’ and how the new world order would leave some behind and offer new direction to others.

As a twice-divorced woman, Francis Marion arrived in Los Angeles and became one of Hollywood’s most influential writers between the 1915 and the 1930’s. When movies were still known as flickers, Francis was the scenarist that developed a guide for directors and actors of the silent era to follow.

Mary Pickford was the ‘girl with the curls’, Americas Sweetheart that glowed on film and had throngs of adoring fans. Her admiring public did not want her to grow up. Remembering her beginnings, she felt that she owed to her fans what they wanted even if it was in conflict with the woman she was becoming. Little did she know that once her curls were gone so was her career and her husband.

When Francis and Mary met, no one could have imagined what they would, as a team, both build and destroy. Francis became Mary’s only screenwriter. Francis created Mary’s most memorable characters and as the silent era faded and the talkies took over – only one would make the successful leap.

The beginning and end of this book were mesmerizing. The middle had angered me. Two strong women became simpering fools over the men in their lives. So, I am going to skip over that and concentrate on the strength that this team shared until it became unbearable for both. Their story unfolds in alternating chapters and Pickford’s part definitely lacks in both the storytelling and atmosphere. It is obvious from the start that this is Francis’s story and though Pickford is central, she lacks the glow that her movie persona held.

By the end, Francis has to confront one serious question. Is she responsible for the wreck of the person that Mary had become? With only the two of them left to face regret and loss, they must come to terms with whom they were and who they are now. Were they truly friends or were they co-dependent? Each only taking what the other could offer. Did Francis condemn Pickford to always be a little girl on the screen due to the very first screenplay that she had written for her? Or was it Francis’s sole intention to give Mary an on screen childhood that that she was denied?

Admitting that she took artistic license, Melanie Benjamin did not write a biography, it is a fictionalized tale of two influential women that were innovators and artists in Hollywood’s Golden Age. A story that exposes the Golden Age and lays bare the inner workings both in front of and behind the screen.

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Melanie Benjamin for the ARC to review. When I started to read this book, I knew who Mary Pickford was, I was well acquainted with the story of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, but I did not know who Frances Marion was. I was fascinated with the stories of both women and their rather somewhat odd friendship. I learned several things about Hollywood that I did not know, i.e., that Mary Pickford only played children, that Mary along with Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks started the film company, United Artist, as well as, the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences. Through their friend ship they created movie magic, Mary was the actress and Frances was the screenwriter.This was a story of two very strong and determined women in an industry that was male dominated. Throughout, there years of working in Hollywood they would not be bullied by the men in suits that were in charge of the studios in their early years. Mary became an Academy Award winning actress and Frances had several Academy Awards of her own. However, there friendship became strained for a number of reasons. Although, however odd this friendship was, these women were friends to the end and pioneers for modern day women in motion pictures

This is a beautifully written story about old Hollywood style and glamour and the people who made it that way. The author did a great job combining fiction and history. The main character is Mary Pickford the first movie star to be in silent films. She had a long term friendship with Francis Marion who wrote screenplays for her. This is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys this genre.

It is 1914, and twenty-five-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.



My Thoughts: In the beginning of The Girls in the Picture, we meet Frances Marion. It is 1969, and she is reflecting on the past. She is about to visit Mary Pickford again after an estrangement of many years. I liked starting at “the end,” and then I wanted to know more about the journey.

What a journey it is! Mary is already acting when she and Frances meet, and as their bond grows, Mary pulls her in by persuading her to write scenarios for her, as she admires her writing style. Their team work begins in the era of silent movies. Slowly they become a brilliant duo, and almost from the beginning, they enjoy personal time together, too.

But the men in the industry and in their lives slowly pull them apart, and when “talkies” come along, everything changes for Mary. She doesn’t quite know how to flow with the new style, and other issues are interfering in her ability to act, too.

The journey plodded for me…and then, suddenly, as we come to the end, the intensity builds and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I would have loved the book more if the middle hadn’t sagged for me. However, I did like learning more about the Old Hollywood era, and the author’s writing style kept me engaged. 4 stars.***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley

I loved this book! The writing was breezy and fun but the story is what really shines. Great tale of Hollywood and the beginning of the movie industry. And of course the real point of the book is the friendship between Fran and Mary. I really felt that I knew them after reading this. And despite having lived so long ago they seemed so relevant thanks to the author’s writing. A winner of a book. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an ARC.

Pretty much from the first page I was engrossed in this novel and didn't want to put it down! Since I started reading just before Christmas, I couldn't sit and veg on it like I wanted, but as soon as I was able to do so, I did. "Old Hollywood" has always intrigued me, and this book was particularly interesting as it started with the start of "moving pictures," went clear through the silent era and on to the beginning of the "talkies." The two main characters, Frances Marion and Mary Pickford,were both names I had heard of but not much more than that. I was enthralled with their story, their friendship, careers, and love lives. To see how time changes us, for good or bad, whether we see it or not in ourselves. It was a moving story, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading it. I also admit I spent quite a bit of time after reading it looking up various names sprinkled throughout the book on Google.com and Wikipedia. Highly recommended!

Melanie Benjamin has become one of my favorite writers, as she explores and writes about special women in history who aren't as well known as they should be. She has a gift for making the reader truly be a part of the stories she tells.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Melanie Benjamin, and Random House-Ballantine Publishers for an ARC to read and honestly review**

This is a novel I will be recommending to everyone. Historical fiction, The Girls in the Picture is a book for everyone who has an interest in the evolution of film and of women trying to be taken seriously in the workplace.

Frances doesn't want to be an actress, but she wants to be a part of the movies, and she finds her niche as a "scenarist" during the era of silent films, when the "flickers" were considered a low form of entertainment and certainly not an art form. She becomes great friends with Mary, who has been on the stage taking care of the rest of her family since she was just eight years old. Mary comes to the flickers because of the money. The two women are at the forefront of a burgeoning industry, which means becoming the first movie stars with rabid fans.

The story covers the challenges of the casting couch for female actresses. Women can't take time off for children--men don't have that worry and can have all the kids they want. All the Harvey Weinstein-esque terrible sexual behavior existed then, but perhaps worse was that women's ideas were also belittled.

Marriage, life, and careers strain their friendship. The Girls in the Picture is a masterfully written novel about the personal and professional bonds of women during a fascinating time in history.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book, which RELEASES JAN 16, 2018.