An insightful look into the four venturesome and creative women whose influence helped morph the Rolling Stones into the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world in the latter part of the sixties and the early seventies These women themselves were undervalued and often degraded for participating in the same behaviors that their male partners were often glamorized for as "creative artists."
I enjoyed the book even though I found the writing to be a bit disjointed and choppy at times.

The title "Parachute Women" comes from the Rolling Stones' very dirty blues song, "Parachute Woman," on their 1968 album, "Beggars Banquet."

"Parachute woman will you blow me out?/My heavy throbber's itching just to lay a solid rhythm down."

One commenter in a web thread about the song says, "Without any proof, I think 'Parachute Woman' is about Honor Blackman, who played the skydiver Pussy Galore in the James Bond movie 'Goldfinger' a few years earlier. The Stones were fond of her and I can't think of any other parachute woman from around that time."

The song gets no mention in "Parachute Women," a new book by resourceful author Elizabeth Winder. "Parachute Women" is about three girlfriends, one wife and three of the Stones: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones.

The women are Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt and Bianca Jagger, and a description from the book's publisher, Hachette, says "they put the glimmer in the Glimmer Twins and taught a group of straight-laced boys to be bad."

Pallenberg and Faithfull seem to be the biggest and baddest influencers in this account of questionable morals in the real world of rock-star heaven (London! Paris! Tangier!) and hell (substance abuse, self-abuse, physical abuse).

The two were anti-dollygirl she-devils and mad muses, drug-addicted and men-obsessed. The chapters about their crazy and creative exploits are more captivating than those about Hunt and Bianca, and that makes sense mainly because Pallenberg and Faithfull receive the most attention. Who cares about Mick and Keith, dullards compared to their girlfriends?

To steal a line from an Amazon comment about "She's a Rainbow, " the 2020 Pallenberg bio, "She was a naughty adventuress, but the world needs a few naughty adventuresses to keep things lively."

Blackman isn't in "Parachute Women," but on the web, you can see a picture of her with Jagger, Richards and Jones at a reception for the Supremes in 1965 in London. Would like to know the story behind the photo.

Now, back to the review. The book is packed with stories, scenes, details, emotions and Winder's deep research and informed observations.

Ultimately, you may have sympathy for the she-devils, as well as Hunt and Bianca, after you have finished "Parachute Women." You get the feeling from Winder that all four deserve it and more.

I applaud Winder for her work and thank Hachette and NetGalley for the ARC.

To Hachette: I found one sentence that needs to be corrected. "Bianca filed for divorce in Mary 1978."

Another entry in my rabbit hole of books about celebrities (mainly rock) of the 1960s. As a teen, I so envied these women who were involved with the Rolling Stones but after reading what these women went through, the envy has disappeared -- in fact, lots of sympathies although many situations were by choice. And the drug use - geez, how are these people still alive? Granted, Anita Pallenberg is no longer with us but she died just a few years ago. This had many interesting stories about events and relationships I was not aware of although Marsha Hunt and Bianca got short shrift in their stories.

Although the writing wasn't the best, it was still riveting and I had a hard time putting it down. It has also led me to get Marianne Faithfull's memoirs from the library.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance e-galley. To be published August 2023.

Parachute Women by Elizabeth Winder is non-fiction that definitely reads like fiction. And it is absolutely fascinating!!!!!!! History has mostly ignored the women who were pivotal influences to previous generations and I am so glad the women in this book—Marianne Faithfull, Bianca Jagger, Marsha Hunt, & Anita Pallenberg—finally get their due. Highly recommend!!

Thank you Negalley for the advanced copy of this book. I'm a longtime fan of the Rolling Stones and have numerous books about them including Bill Wyman & Keith Richards' self-written books. I truly enjoyed reading this, however, there's nothing new in the book I already knew about. I feel the author based her book on information on previously written books and REALLY had a hard time with the "thousand dollar" words she used - many words I actually had to look up the meanings.

I want to start off by thanking Netgally for this ARC. I was so excited as a fan of The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, and Anita Pallenberg but this fell flat for me. Since I wouldn’t have finished this book if I had bought it, I DNF’d it at 30%. This book reads like fiction but not in a good way. There are so many details of mundane things that happened when people were tripping out of their minds but and couldn’t have possibly remembered but no real meat to the content. Truly disappointing.

A brief history of four women who dated Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The vast majority of the book is about Anita Pallenberg (Keith's girlfriend) and Marianne Faithful (Mick's girlfriend) during the late 1960's. Marsha Hunt and Bianca Jagger--who each fathered a child with Mick--are briefly covered in the final chapters. Mick's treatment of women during this time period (to the extent this book is accurate) is quite shocking, especially his treatment of Marsha Hunt. Frankly, it's amazing that the children of these relationships survived given all the drinking, drugs, touring and generally chaos going on with The Rolling Stones during this time period. Fans of the Stones will enjoy this book, especially the parts about Marsha Hunt, whose story is not widely covered in other books about the Stones from this time period.

This book was fascinating, informative, and tragic. The women who made the Stones iconic were left in the wake of their success. This is a classic tale of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but it’s also a story of the contradiction between women’s roles and the male rockstar. This is a book about feminism, about love gone awry, and the need for artistic expression. As a lifelong Stones fan, I thought I knew the stories, but this book highlighted the stories not told, the women somewhat forgotten. It was great.

I was attracted to this book because it harked back to the popular music of my generation. I recognized all the names, was interested in knowing more about each woman, and looked forward to comparing what I learned to the little context I had in my youth.

Indeed, the book read like a 60s teen magazine, but with a sharper edge not sanctioned back then. My now grown-up eyes saw the stunning level of misogyny that ruled their lives. I was first disgusted by that, then quite saddened by these women's acceptance of it as the price they paid for fame.

I can't say I enjoyed this book. In fact, I didn't finish it because the stories were all so similarly tragic. I think the would have been far more interesting as a biography of one of the women, while still referring to her contemporaries.

That said, the book might make a good reading assignment for students of sociology.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader's copy of a fascinating book. The sense of time (1965-1972) and place are vividly portrayed; the feminine perspective and intuitive insights from each woman are compelling, heartbreaking, and sometimes inspiring, as each navigates her roller coaster life without the many passes for bad behavior granted to the Stones.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Hachette Books & Elizabeth Winder for the advanced copy of Parachute Women.

This was such an entertaining read for me. Definitely one to add to the collection if you’re interested/a fan. I spent the whole time looking up all the referenced pictures, movies, and songs of the women behind the Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithful, Anita Pallenberg, Marsha Hunt, and Bianca Jagger. It enticed me to deep dive into a few song meanings, have some great musical conversations with my partner, and to add a few more memoirs to the TBR pile.

As some of the reviews have already noted, the writing does rely heavily on its creative licensing, but it definitely achieves its goal of showing us how these women were marginalized in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

And so much hash!!!

I would like to thank Hachette Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.So first a few disclaimers. I remember the 60's. I was 10 in 1964( Year of the Beatles) and 16 in 1970 ( the year everything changed:). However, given my age and the fact that I lived at home( in Pennsylvania) until I got married in 1975, my recollections of those years are far different from the ones in this book. However, I did read , a lot, about the British bands, the members and their wives/girlfriends. When books about this era talk about the Teen Fan Magazines and their readers, they are talking about me. I have also read in later years books by and about the Beatles, the Stones and other groups. I was intrigued to see this book, one that would focus on the women involved. The premise is a bit skewed however, while there is a lot about Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull, Bianca Jagger and Marsha Hunt get a bit of a short shrift. Also, there is little to no mention of the women who where involved with the other members of the band. To be fair, Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull were fascinating , and well worth a book centered on them alone.I just felt like there was more to be said , especially about Bianca, that didn't make the cut. The book talks about the early years of the Stones, about the relationship between Brian Jones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.The 2 women , Anita and Marianne, were alternately lovers, muses, partners and influencers. They were also very much independent women, with their own careers, loves, and lives. Marsha Hunt and Bianca Jagger were also independent and successful in their own lives. This attracted the men , and in some ways disturbed them as well. It appears that while the men of the Rolling Stones wanted this type of women, they also wanted a more traditional spouse/girlfriend, and this dichotomy was the ruination of the relationships. The book is full of details of the early days of the Rolling Stones, especially of Brian Jones. It does not cover up or white wash stories of drug use, infidelities, and mental cruelty. It is unvarnished and , at times, painful to read. I would like to read more , about some of the women who came after-Patti Hanson, Jerry Hall etc. Again thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

This was such a fun read. Loved the stories of these incredible women. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I learned so much about Marsha Hunt, Marianne Faithfull, Bianca Jagger, and the sixth Rolling Stone herself, Anita Pallenburg. It was fascinating to see how captivated the Stones were by Anita and the subsequent women, only to witness their various tragic spirals into addiction. I couldn’t put this down!

The only criticism I have is that at points it felt a little disjointed - there were a lot of “rabbit holes” but most of the time it served a purpose. At other times, it felt like fluff.

Overall, I really enjoyed this enigmatic storytelling of the women behind the Rolling Stones