I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. This is an interesting story that covers the time period of 1947 thru 1960. Fanny becomes a very young widow with a six year old daughter after her beloved husband has a freak accident in their home. The book follows Fanny and her daughter, Chloe, as they try to survive and live without a man in their lives in a society that says that the man is the ruler of the family and has the final say. Fanny can’t even get served a drink in a bar without a man with her. The story also goes into great detail about the “Red Scares” , blacklisting and McCarthyism that America was experiencing at the time. The story is a real eye opener about what life was like after the war. . I really enjoyed the book, but, it was a little slow at times. .

This was so good! Very accurate historical fiction. I was immediately transported into another world, and I loved Avery second of it!

The Trouble with You, by Ellen Feldman, is an interesting historical fiction novel. Feldman does her research and ties it together with a believable story of interesting characters in a way that is both entertaining and informative. Reading a novel like this has me doing some research of my own to learn more. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook to read for this review. My opinions are all my own.

With the backdrop of WW2 and the blacklist years of McCarthyism, this book navigates the world of one woman’s quest to learn who she is and what she could become if she found the courage to go her own way.
Fanny Fabricant (what a wonderful name!), is a young widower who with the help of her free minded Aunt Rose, finds work at a radio station. Here she meets Charlie, a scriptwriter, whose liberal scripts and friendships land him on the blacklist. And then she meets Ezra, a respectable doctor who wants to marry her and have a very traditional life, with Fanny at home with the children. But what does Fanny want? That is at the heart of this novel.
I loved Fanny’s witty sense of humor and also her traditionalism. Her devotion to her daughter Chloe and her burgeoning devotion to her craft. Her 1950s dilemmas or no different to the dilemmas of today and Fanny is a great character to admire and enjoy.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. Another great read from them!

What a wonderful book! Much more than a coming of age story, it's more about a young woman's search to find herself in post WWII New York. Fanny Farrington has the perfect marriage with the perfect husband and the perfect daughter. Her husband Max survived the war, but when tragedy strikes, Fanny is left as young widow with a young child. Bound the the strictures of the day which frown on women working, Fanny struggles to support herself. When she takes a role as secretary to a woman who writes soaps (although that work is never to be used!), She finds that she likes working and not being dependent on a man for everything. But pressure is on for her to find a husband and go back into her proper role. The McCarthy hearings are frightening everyone and especially in the movie/TV business, and the soaps are not exempt. When one of her co-workers gets blacklisted, Fanny must decide whether she can help him continue to make a living without compromising her principles. At the same time she meets another man who would like to marry her, but expects her to fall back into the role of 50's wife and mother. Influencing Fanny (or attempting to) are her cousin Mimi, also a young widow with a child who urges her to marry and stop working, and her aunt Rose, a free spirit who encourages Fanny to think for herself and be independent.

I really enjoyed the book, watching Fanny navigate through the various dilemmas and becoming the person she really is, in spite of social and other pressures to be less. A really great read!

What a perfectly relevant story about a young widow who has hard choices to make in life, not only as a woman, but as someone who is pulled in many directions.

When Fanny is widowed at a young age with a young child, she must learn to follow her instincts among the backdrop of 1950’s America. She is an educated woman, but has only ever been a wife and mother. It is time for Fanny to forge her own path forward, and do it on her own terms.

I found this story very well researched and highly evocative. If you enjoy historical fiction, you should give this one a try. It’s an enjoyable 4-star read.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. The Trouble With You is due to be published on February 20, 2024.

Fanny is widowed shortly after the end of WW II. She has no money and a child to support. Her Aunt Rose [ leftie] helps her get a job as a secretary to a woman who wrote for daytime radio serials [known as soap operas]. Through this job, Fammy met Charlie, a writer, who is lated blacklisted for his comments. She also met Ezra, a doctor, who treated her daughter.
Different values for women were maintained after the war, but the women had 'tasted' the freedom of choice during the war. It was difficult to let that status go. Fanny has lots of decisions to make, secrets to keep or share.
This is also the time of the McCarthy ear where many writers, actors, and others were accused of propagating the
communist line of thought.
Ellen Feldman has written a realistic tale of the US after the war. READ.

The Trouble with You mainly centers around Fanny, who is a young widow and mother after WWII. She struggles with her family expectations, which are to marry another Jewish man, or her own career which is unexpectedly satisfying. She was not raised to be political, but finds it hard to avoid during the McCarthy era and hearings. Then she is caught between 2 men - the safe one who she's expected to marry, and the exciting co-worker who opens her eyes.

i really enjoyed reading this early copy of the Trouble With You...... the characters were well written and relatable.....and the story really showed the lines that were drawn between the roles that men and women were supposed to live by back then.. The book was easy to read and i will definately look for other things that this author has written

In Ellen Feldman’s upcoming novel, The Trouble with You, Fanny finds herself in a period of rediscovery after an unexpected tragedy changes the course of her life. Set in New York City after World War II, Fanny tries raising her daughter while navigating life as a woman in the working world. Her aunt manages to wrangle her a job as the assistant to an editor of radio serials, the precursor to soap operas on TV. While she works there, she meets different characters who in some way help her steer herself in her new life. The speed bumps come in the shape of ACE seeking to weed out those who are sympathetic to the Communists during the Red Scare that was creeping across America. Fanny knew she couldn’t get caught up in even an accusation by association with others because she wouldn’t be able to support her daughter financially and would also put a mark on her daughter’s name.

This book is all about reinventing yourself when life throws you a curve ball. Fanny has to pave the course for herself because she refused to rely on others to support her and her daughter. Along the way, she opens herself up for love and companionship, as well as taking risks to try and better provide for her daughter so her daughter is proud of the choices she made as a mother. It’s a story about not losing yourself in society’s expectations for you and being bold and independent in life. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own. This book is set for publication on February 19, 2024.

#netgalley #arc #bookstagram #ellenfeldman #thetroublewithyoubook #stmartinspress #stmartingriffin

Fanny Fabricant, mother of Chloe, waits for her physician husband to return from the War only to lose him two years later in the midst of a blizzard. She has always followed society’s dictates in her role as woman in mid- 20th century, but, as a widow supporting a child, she finds secretarial work for a radio station producing serials. Here she meets people who, finding themselves under the shadow of the Red Scare, are now facing loss of career and major changes in their personal lives. She also meets a doctor, good husband material, and a writer, a talented but loose cannon. Between them she faces two different paths with only her career-oriented aunt to offer advice. Ellen Feldman’s protagonist is torn back and forth as to her final choice while the reader learns sordid details of real people in the arts who suffered humiliation and deprivation during this shameful and frightening period in our country’s history. Another Feldman novel to love!

I have to admit here that the first literal half of this book, I had no clue where this book was going to go. I felt like the story line was…choppy ❓and I had a bunch of questions 🙋‍♀️ but I digress, I powered through. It wasn’t until that halfway point that the story started to piece itself together…at least for me that is. There’s a lot of feminine empowerment in this story, and I was eventually, as the story unfolds, all for it. I mourned for Fannie at her unexpected tragic loss (it’s at the very beginning of the story), and then wanted to shout at her toward the end of the story to get rid of Ezra. Because I LOVED Charlie from the GET. GO. ❤️
If you’re a historical fiction fan, and love stories from the WWII and post WWII era, I think you’ll enjoy this lil’ gem right here. 💎

Good historical fiction about the post-war era.
After the men returned from action in WW2, working women were expected to return to being housewives and to raising children. And until she faced life alone with her daughter, Fanny Fabricant was happy in the role of wife and mother. Now she’s the breadwinner, or “poor Fanny” to the relatives, who pity her for having to work. Over the years of working in an office that turns out serials (never soaps!) for radio audiences, Fanny discovers surprising skills within herself that have nothing to do with housekeeping or being someone’s secretary…

**I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.**

2.5-3 stars - I enjoyed the book, especially as it was a new perspective on the WWII theme. Fanny marries her doctor/soldier/husband Max quickly and they have a daughter. Then he goes to war and returns safely. We know the story is about a widow and the path to widowhood was unique in terms of war-based novels. Once Fanny loses Max the story takes off to follow her journey through grieving, surviving, and finding new purpose over the following decades. I enjoyed the descriptions of NYC and life in the post-WWII era for everyday people. I learned more about the Red Scare and how it affected artists/journalists/actors and reaffirmed that that topic is not a favorite of mine (communism, Cold War, etc.). However, it was an important element to the overall story and choices presented to Fanny.

I have to say I immensely appreciated the various references to Maud Hart Lovelace's "Betsy-Tacy" books as they were a childhood favorite of mine and set in a town where I grew up. That was a fun discovery when Fanny started reading those stories to her own daughter!

The book was easy to read and I never contemplated DNF-ing it. For me, it plodded steadily with no huge surprises or missteps.

“The Trouble With You” is by Ellen Feldman. I was really pleased to be approved for this book - McCarthyism and blacklisted authors but in NYC opposed to LA, sign me up! This book does have that - and the topics are explored through two characters, but unfortunately that story came across flat quite often. I also had issues with the pacing - for the first four chapters, I had no idea who the main character was (maybe I was skimming?), but once the book got rolling, the pacing was still sometimes off. I absolutely enjoyed reading about Aunt Rose - what a firecracker! I did enjoy the radio station setting - and all that transpired there. I wasn’t too pleased when the romance started taking over the book, though I understand why there needed to be some tension, but it was pretty obvious who the main character was going to end up with. There’s a lot of character exploration, but even at the end of the book, I still don’t feel like I really know the main character. Overall, an interesting take on the issues associated with blacklisting and McCarthyism and how it affected so many performers.

This new novel from Ellen Feldman is a completely moving and compelling story about a newly widowed mother of a young girl who struggles to find her way in a world of antiquated thinking. Fanny Fabricant, the main character, is lucky to have an aunt with progressive ideas who pushes her to find a job to support her daughter instead of relying on family or finding a man who will marry her.. Fanny becomes secretary for a radio soap program where she types scripts. This novel falls into place during the McCarthy era and she ends up collaborating with a blacklisted former screen writer. Fanny also meets a doctor who wants to marry her and “save” her from having to work. Fanny finds herself at a crossroads of what society thinks she should and what she wants to do. I found this historical fiction novel to be a compelling and delightful to read. I highly recommend it.

I received this ARC for my honest review.

I enjoyed this story set in an unusual and interesting time in history. The subjects of blacklisting and women's rights are covered as well as the main character's emotional recovery from a loss. The independent thinking of many of the characters and how they broke from traditional roles in spite of opposition was refreshing. The writing flowed nicely and kept my interest to the end. This is a new to me author but I will be reading more of her books.

Set in New York City in the aftermath of World War II when the men were coming home, the women were exhaling in relief, and everyone was having babies, this is the story of a young woman whose rosy is turned upside down when her husband comes home safe from the war but then tragically dies. Raised never to step out of bounds, educated in one of the Sister Seven Colleges for a career as a wife and mother, torn between her cousin Mimi who is determined to keep her in line and her aunt Rose who has a rebellious past of her own, Fanny struggles to raise her young daughter and forge a new life by sheer will and pluck. When she gets a job as a secretary to the “queen” of radio serials . she discovers she likes working, and through her friendship with an actress who stars in the series and a man who writes them, comes face to face with the blacklist which is destroying careers and wrecking lives. Ultimately, Fanny must decide between playing it safe or doing what she knows is right in this accurate description of a world that seems at once light years away and strangely immediate.

I grew up in the 50's which was the main timeline of the story. so was interested in the description of the story even though I was not familiar with the author. The author's descriptions of the times and her characterizations were very well written. I could not put the book down and stayed up late one night to finish it because I had to see how it ended! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an unfamiliar author to me. I highly recommend it, especially to one who is a "child of the 50's".

Really a 3.5 except for the freshness of having a woman operate as a front during the Red Scare. I found the rest a bit too easy -- the romance, the ascendance in her work, the relationship with her daughter, the author's avoidance of showing us the tough scenes with a simple after-report. Still a pleasant read with some evocative detail to the period. Just wish it had been thicker and crumblier.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advanced Reader Copy.

The Trouble with You
Ellen Feldman
Feb. 20, 2024
St. Martins Griffin
* historical fiction
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I absolutely adored this book! I read it in one weekend. I have not read this author before, but I’ll sure be looking at her backlist.
Fascinating story of a fascinating era. I will recommend this book to people who want to learn more about the McCarthy era.
5 stars