2.5 stars rounded up — maybe. Let's see if it stays.

"But before they were household names, they were among the young women arriving at the Barbizon with a suitcase, reference letters, and hope."

The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free loses itself and feels like more of a mishmash of The Changing Times for White Middle-Class Creative Women Who Briefly Visit Manhattan as Guest Editors for Mademoiselle Magazine (1930ish-1970ish). I feel vaguely disappointed but still enjoyed parts of this hodgepodge.

Built at the end of the 1920's, exclusively for women, the Barbizon hotel seems to be intrinsically linked with Mademoiselle magazine and Gibbs College. But the focus in this book is definitely on the former. There are times when reading The Barbizon that I forgot that it wasn't really The Mademoiselle instead. Many of the famous residents at the Barbizon were there for the quick summer guest editor program sponsored by the magazine. People like Sylvia Plath. While Bren does mention and pay nice tributes to other women, she spends an inordinate amount of time on Plath and the summer she was there — especially considering Plath lays this summer out to bare in The Bell Jar, which Bren also mentions often.

I get the fascination. I do. But I wanted less of a character study on these women we already know so much about and I wanted to know more about the hotel itself. I wanted to feel as if the hotel was a character within these pages — and I just don't think Bren quite got there.

Also, there's a whole swarm of women, who come to be known as "The Women," who never leave and, because of the tenant laws are never forced out by rent increases. A small group continues and protests through various renovations — around whom they design and redesign a whole floor on which to contain these elderly ladies. Please, more of these ladies. And large photographs.

And even some more of the dirty laundry (pardon any pun); some digging into these murders and attacks and suicides that took place there — who were these women? "In 1975, seventy-nine-year old Ruth Harding, a lonely resident who liked to hang out in the lobby and talk to anyone willing to listen, was strangled to death in her eleventh floor room. Her murder went unsolved."

Perhaps it would've been better served as a larger format, coffee table book — I certainly would've loved more focus on the actual hotel Barbizon and the ways in which it changed over the years and the women — famous or not — who passed through its doors.

The Barbizon is a comprehensive history, not just of the famed NYC hotel for women, but of women in NYC in general throughout the 20th century.

The relationship between the Barbizon hotel and Elle magazine is explored in depth and includes many familiar faces (Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion, for example).

Paulina Bren states in her introduction to "The Barbizon - The Hotel That Set Women Free," that there wasn't a lot of source material about the hotel. About twenty percent of the book is acknowledgements and references, but it's true, very little is about the hotel itself.

The book is focused more on the women who lived at the Barbizon over the decades, and how society and culture changed both the women and the hotel. The book covers from the late 20's to the 80's, and features residents such as Grace Kelly, Joan Didion, and Sylvia Plath. There's a LOT of Sylvia in the book, possibly because there was more source material on her than many of the others.

Bren also talks in-depth about the relationship between the Barbizon and businesses, such as Mademoiselle magazine, the Katharine Gibbs College, both of which gave women jobs and opportunities they hadn't had before, just as the Barbizon gave them a safe, but less-restrictive environment in which to live.

There's a lot of material, and most of it was interesting, but there's a fair amount of jumping around, and different decades are sometimes referenced in the same chapter without a clear indicator of what is happening when. I would still recommend this to anyone interested in women's history and women in the workforce in the 20th Century.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

I have read a few books about the Barbizon Hotel and totally enjoyed them. This one by Paula Bren is by far the best I have ever read. The history of this hotel just amazed me. I did not know the amount of famous women that stayed at this hotel. Ms. Bren dives into the many decades that the hotel changed so it could survive. The Gibbs Girls and their pillbox hats and white gloves. Looking for the perfect job that would lead to the perfect husband. The models who worked the runways and the store aisles to make a name for themselves and the young writers who had to fight their way into the headlines all stayed at the Barbizon. Hotel. Grace Kelly, Sylvia Plath, Ali McGraw to name a few graced the halls of this iconic hotel. Ms. Bren told a story of love, respect and the back stabbing for this young ladies from all over the country who comes to New York to make it big.. Many survive many go home, but they all at one time grace the halls of the Barbizon. The history, the change of ownership the scandals that were covered up. I could not put this book down.. I was sent back to a time when going to the automat was a big deal. Sitting in your room figuring how you were going to stretch your paycheck to be able to pay your bills. This book also showed the friendships that were formed and what many of these women went through just to say I am here to stay. Many women are still there. Have been for 40 years and aren't going anywhere. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves the history of one of New York's famous and beautiful hotel.

Thank you to Goodreads, #NetGalley & Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

What history this hotel was. I did know it was a hotel for single women only, in New York, but never knew about the history of the Katherine Gibbs secretarial school being there, or the celebrities staying there or the connections it had with Mademoiselle magazine and it's guest editors every Summer which had upcoming writers like Joan Didion, Diane Johnson. The celebrities include Grace Kelly, Ali McGraw, Jaclyn Smith and so many others. It also focused on the eras and what was happening at the time with racism, having their first African American resident etc. A lot of the girls were upcoming (hopefully) models which Mlle magazine helped them get jobs too.

This book is rich in history and the demise when it was sold in the 1980s was sad and they made into condos that had floors catering to the women who lived there since the 1930s. They were rent controlled rooms couldn't kick them out and how they catered to them by leaving the rooms intact via secret doors on certain floors.

To me one of the downsides of this book is how they focused A LOT on Joan Didion's time there probably because she was their most famous guest. There was a lot mentioned about her book The Bell Jar which is loosely based on The Barbizon which I didn't know when I read it years ago. There was also a chapter after she left and committed suicide.

An interesting trip through time that speaks to not only the history of the landmark hotel but also to the varied stories of its many residents and the ever changing city of New York!

I'd always heard stories of the Barbizon Hotel. Paulina Bren brought it to life telling the stories not just of the women who had stayed there, but the stories of these women through the decades. They were brought to life at a time when women were supposed to be hiding in the background, Paulina managed to integrate the social history with very intimate portraits of these women.

Thank you to #netGalley for this advanced copy and to #SimonandSchuster.

THE BARBIZON
BY PAULA BREN

Having attended the Barbizon Modeling School in Boston, MA when I was younger I was excited to see this title about the famous Barbizon Hotel on my dashboard. This book is a social history of the twentieth century. It is very informative starting out with the history of prohibition and the speakeasies to the flapper. The Barbizon residential Hotel started out for women who could be from anywhere but it was built in 1927 in New York City. I had heard of it when I attended the school in Boston.

Many famous women stayed there including Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion, who was a Mademoiselle contest winner. The book describes the origins of Mademoiselle. Rita Hayworth posed in the hotel's gymnasium for Life magazine. This hotel was located on 140 East Sixty Third Street. It was a safe place for women to stay as men weren't allowed past the mezzanine level. It was home to the Katherine Gibbs School which women were known to wear white gloves and were taught typing and shorthand. Also women stayed there that were models of the John Robert Powers Modeling Agency which was still one of the world's top three agencies for super models in the early 1980's that much I remember.
Paulina Bren has written a social commentary of an iconic building that has been a snap shot of a multitude of twentieth century history which includes the early part ending with the hotel as a backdrop of each historic movement. It chronicles too much to include in a review to do it justice.

Publication Date: March 2, 2021


Thank you to Net Galley, Paulina Bren and Simon & Schuster for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

#TheBarbizon #PaulinaBren #Simon&Schuster #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley, Paulina Bren and Simon & Schuster for an ARC copy of “The Barbizon.”

The Barbizon, a hotel just for women, was exactly what was needed following the end of World War I. With soldiers coming back home, women were being told to give up their newly established jobs and freedom and return to the home and kitchen and motherhood without the thought that some may want more.

I honestly never heard of The Barbizon hotel before other than that it was the hotel in “The Bell Jar.” But, the premise of the book sounded interesting so I requested a copy. I’m so glad I did. This hotel’s history is so amazing, from the famous women who stayed there to the hotel’s connection to the women’s liberation movement and the magazine Mademoiselle. The book was really very fascinating and I’d recommend this one.

What a fun book. I’ve always been fascinated by the Barbizon, and it was wonderful to read a book on its history that also is a marvelous history lesson in mid-century New York for women. The author details so many interesting women who lived in the Barbizon, most particularly the guest editors of Mademoiselle magazine over the years (like Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion). My only regret reading the book is it’s an advance copy and the end notes haven’t been formatted, so I will have to get a finished copy later to check out the WEALTH of information in them!

Interesting history of the famed Barbizon and some of its residents.
Historical information 5 stars. Information on the residents 5 stars. For some reason I lost interest halfway in. Repetitious writing perhaps? Too much detail? Not sure. I did appreciate the information provided and the writing effort.

LOVED. When I first moved to NYC, my mother really wanted me to live at the barbizon and was upset when I refused. However, this charming book brought it all back!

The first half of this book really kicked butt! It was everything I expected it to be. I learned about the reasoning behind the Barbizon, I learned some good gossipy facts about some of the women staying there, learned about the society of the time period, got an understanding of what companies had their 'girls' stay there -think Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School and different modeling agencies and I just had fun with this book.

Suddenly, this book turned from a fun read into a mishmash - Mademoiselle (magazine) introduced itself and its affiliation with the Barbizon. Learning about that was interesting; however, when the magazine introduced its Guest Editor editions, the second half of this book just dealt with that. Well, the Guest Editors and Sylvia Plath and the editor Betsy Blackwell (1937–1971).

Had I wanted to learn about Sylvia Plath, I would have gotten a book expressly written about her. Yes, I grasp that the book "The Bell Jar" was written about her experience at the Barbizon, but I still didn't expect this sort of 'hero worship' from this author. Nearly the entire second half of this book became the most tedious read except for the part when the hotel kept going through different hands and remodeling up until it eventually became condos.

*ARC supplied by the publisher and author.

This is really more of a snapshot of women in Manhattan as experienced by those making the transition of coming of age in an era of accelerated change. The Barbizon, built in the late 1920's, initially represented a vision of female independence as the constraints of Victorianism gave way to more mobility and self reliance. But there had to be an intermediate step for women leaving the protection of home for the first time, and the Barbizon with its combination of hotel amenities and housemother type managing style gave both parents and young women a sense of security. Paulina Bren did her research, spooling out her history with personal stories of many of the more famous residents, each of which personalized an era.

Much is here about Sylvia Plath who embodied the transitional 1950's, forever memorializing the hotel calling it the Amazon in her account of the month she spent there as one of the guest editors, or GEs, of Mademoiselle Magazine, which is covered extensively. Also covered is the connection to Katharine Gibbs school and the part it played in the hotel's past. While it was interesting to read of Gael Greene, Ali McGraw, Grace Kelly and others, there was a fair amount of repetition which became tedious after a while.

The purpose of the hotel has shifted with the times and fortunes of New York, its current status as a location for very high priced real estate and multimillion dollar co-ops. Not a perfect read, but fun for those who love reading about the popular history of New York in unique ways.

Oh my. This book took me to a time and a place! When I saw the topic of this, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I was not disappointed! The meticulous research, the photos that are included, the storied residents of this famous building, the events that took place at one address in New York City. I am going to have to buy a physical copy as I am going to want to read this again.

I was initially excited about and interested in this book about women’s history in New York centered around a place many of them lived or stayed in. I had previously been unfamiliar with residential hotels and found the history of women’s only establishments fascinating especially given the time periods covered (30s-current). The beginning and endings of the book held my interest the most. Towards the middle the author gets a bit lost in the stories of Mademoiselle magazine and it feels as if the book loses its purpose. While important to the history of the Barbizon, it unfortunately centers the drama and experiences of the magazine for much of the book, a topic I found much less interesting. Overall, I am grateful to have found this book as I learned a lot of women’s history in New York and beyond that I previously had little exposure to. The relationship between the Barbizon and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, one of my all time favorites, was especially fascinating to read. Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very well-researched and documented. Through the vehicle of telling the history of The Barbizon hotel for women, it brought to life the stories of the many women who passed through the doors during different decades in American history.

It reflects many of the triumphs and challenges of the women's movement. As such, It would be a great book for mothers and older daughters to read together; each would probably have been privy to a different view of the world in relation to gender roles.

Because the topic of the book is so expansive, it is a testimony to the breadth of the author's knowledge and work. Every library should have a copy in their women's section.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Net Galley for the opportunity to provide my thoughts.

There is a lot to this book that I found interesting, how the builders decided on the décor of the building, The women who have been there since the 1930's and why, and the rules that were in place for safety and appearance. It's an intense look at a hotel that created the image we think about when we think of the elegance of New York. The Barbizon is truly one of a kind that we will never be seen again but you can learn about in this book.
The reason I was interested in this book was I remembered the name associated with modeling but that's all. I never knew how important it was for young women from 1928 through the 1960 who wanted something more after college and high school besides marriage and children, and though it help some to achieve some independence it didn't stop many from ending up in marriage and with children anyway. I was amazed at the amount of young women both famous and regular people who tried their luck in New York City by attending secretarial school, being a guest editor for Mademoiselle and modeling and how serious they emerge themselves in the process, but in the end society forced most of women back to where they came from.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and Paulina Bren for the ARC of The Barbizon in return for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book about the history of The Barbizon Hotel. I had little knowledge of the history of the rise of women-only in the mid-Twentieth Century. While this book is a wealth of history it also reads like Sex and the City with the gossip of the famous women that spent time at The Barbizon. The book also intertwines the history of Mademoiselle magazine which was interesting as well.

I have known something of The Barbizon before (mainly that Grace Kelly slept there) but was really pretty enthralled by the reading of this book. It is a very interesting social history with a grand old New York building at it’s heart. I knew that it was, in it’s day, a nice resident hotel for women frequented by want to be young actresses from respectable families who wanted their girls housed in a safe environment. It never occurred to me that during the Barbizon’s heyday of the 1950’s baby steps were being made toward what would be called the women’s movement. At the time the Donna Reed like housewife was being sold as ideal on every tv in America. The Barbizon tells the stories of women who went to New York City to see if they could find something different.