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

I thought The Trouble With You was rip roaring good. The story was set in the 1940s towards towards the end of the war. The lead character, Fanny, was married to Max who was a soldier and a doctor. Before he left for the war, they had a daughter, Chloe. Not long after he got back, they bought a beautiful home. And not long after that, Max took a fall in the closet and as a result, died of an aneurysm.

Fanny had to go to work to support her and her daughter, so she took a job as a secretary for three soap operas. Her job was to type the scripts. Charlie Berlin was one of the writers. Actually, he was the best writer, but eventually he was blacklisted.

Fanny had taken a literature in school and she was a good writer. One day, she told her boss, Alice, that she wanted to try her hand at a script. Alice told her that she would pay her if they only if they used the script. At first her scripts weren't very good. But then Charlie came up with an idea. His proposition to Fanny was that he would write the scripts and she would put her name on them. This worked out well and Alice agreed to pay her $50 for each script. Charlie told her that he had been paid $100 for his and that she should ask for that much from Alice. She asked and she got it.

Chloe had experienced several stomach aches and Fanny took her to a doctor. The doctor's name was Ezra. It wasn't long before Fanny and Ezra were dating. Ezra never asked Fanny about her work. As far as he was concerned she was just a secretary. But she had been promoted from being a secretary to being a script writer. At first as he didn't like it, but he eventually was okay with it with the understanding that she would quit working when they got married. Fanny was not having any of that. She loved her work and she planned to continue.

Fannie and Charlie worked beautifully together. In the very beginning. Charlie was doing most of the writing with Fannie doing editing. But as time went on. Fanny took on an equal role. Over time, they were asked to write a screenplay for television. It was a smashing success. While they were working in Fanny's apartment one night, Charlie kissed and she kissed him back. Fanny was very uncomfortable with this and told him it could never happen again. But it did happen again. And again, and this time she had sex with him. That was the end of her engagement with Ezra.

Charlie had fallen in love with her, but he couldn't marry her because he was blacklisted and if it got out that they were married then she'd be blacklisted too. They worked successfully side by side for years and two of their screenplays came up for awards.

I thought the author did a fine job developing the characters, and the storyline was well thought out. One of the characters was Rose, Fanny's aunt. She was a feminist who she played a huge role in Fanny's and Chloe's life. When all has been said and done, I was well pleased with this book. I gave it five stars.

Fanny Fabricant is the protagonist in this historical fiction novel. Fanny is a college educated women who following the unexpected death of her husband struggles with being independent and true to herself while trying to live up to the cultural expectations for women in the 1950’s America. Politics, McCarthyism, HUAC Blacklisting, Actors and Writers are all in the backdrop of the plot. Fanny’s Aunt Rose is a supporting character that fits like a glove in the study. The end is predictable which is why I rated this 4 stars. The pacing is good, I finished this pretty quickly. The educational factor which is what I love most about historical fiction was 5. An excellent read overall. Highly recommend.

I was eager to read this after reading and loving Paris Never Leaves You. This book is another well written story with really good characters.

It’s New York after WWll, men are coming home from war, families were able to put down their worry for a bit, and of course, the babies!

Fanny was raised to become a wife and mother. Even college pushed that as a career opportunity! But she doesn’t want to get married and be a housewife. She wants to write. And even when an event she did not expect happens, she still wants a different life.

A single woman raising a child is hard now, I can’t imagine how hard it was the. When she takes a job with a writer of “serials”, never say “soaps”, she is excited.

But this was a scary time. With people seeing communists everywhere, it was much worse in Hollywood. And as Fanny moves ahead, she will have to decide what is more important. Doing the right thing or going along with the crowd.

I enjoyed this one a lot.

Netgalley/ St. Martin’s Press, February 20,2024

The Trouble with You will lift you up and carry you to a different time and place. Post WW2 is the setting for the book and the characters are submerged into the culture and beliefs of the time. It was so interesing and easy to visualize and put yourself right alongside everyone as you experience their trials and joys. A wonderful book!
Thank you to Netgalley.

The Trouble with You is an emotionally compelling and gorgeously written novel. It is a big-hearted story that skillfully guides the reader through the depths of history.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This post World WR II historical fiction book about the McCarthy era was an interesting, quick paced , insightful story about a young widow trying to singularly raise a child and support herself in the 1950’s in New York City. Fanny Fabricant gets a job as a secretary for a woman radio scriptwriter and becomes wrapped up in the drama and trauma of writing and producing radio soap operas, ultimately she tries her hand at script writing and editing and it leads to a whole new world for her. I found myself rooting for Fanny for her guts and determination and also dealing with the ultimate suitors in her life, namely Charle and Ezra. Fanny’s Aunt Rose was a great influence and support system for Fanny, I enjoyed the interaction of all the characters and this whole story. I would highly recommend this story for anyone interested about life in the McCarthy era in NYC , it is an insightful story.

This book opens one’s eyes during a time in America’s history before WWII when there were unwritten rules for love and marriage. The list is long and restrictive and parts are hard to imagine as it was not that long ago.

This story starts in 1947 when Fanny thought she was one of the lucky ones with a husband, Max, that returned from the war. However, sadly he died not long afterwards leaving her with a young daughter to raise alone in NYC. Fannie had to find a job which wasn’t an easy task for a woman when thousands of servicemen were first in line. She told her Aunt Rose, “I wasn’t brought up to work.”

This is an unforgettable, well-written story of how she managed in a man’s world and found a secretarial job at a daytime radio show. The book highlighted how McCarthyism in the early 50s was a danger in the arts for anyone with a hint of affiliation to communism.

This book is a reminder of where the country once was before women fought hard for their rights. A handful of characters were easy to follow with a plot that took the reader back in time. The dialogue made me understand more about how difficult it must have been especially for single women. I could feel Fannie’s hardship and drive towards independence. It was engaging and the end was somewhat of a surprise.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of February 20, 2024.

Predictable but pleasant. The pacing is off at some points and Fanny a likable but frustrating character. The love triangle was a non issue to the reader. This is a fascinating area of US history so the setting is right. It is mostly enjoyable.

3 1/2 stars

The Trouble with You focuses on Fanny, a young widow making her way as a writer in the decade of the 1950s and her fearless Aunt Rose. Author Ellen Feldman accurately describes a society in which women were expected to marry, have children and find their satisfaction in their homes. Ms. Feldman also delves into Joseph McCarthy’s committee on un-American activities and the writing industry’s black list as well as burgeoning protest against social inequality and restrictions. These two points of view are illustrated in the personalities of the men Fanny becomes involved with….one safe, one exciting. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Highly recommend.

This post-WWII novel is an enjoyable slice of history. I'm giving this one 3.5 stars - I'm all for rooting for a likable female character, but I found this novel a tad predictable, slow, and stilted. I'm so thankful to have received this eARC, and I know people love it - I'm not sure why it wasn't my favorite!

Synopsis: Fanny Fabricant, the main character, is married to Max and mother to her five-year-old daughter Chloe. Max was one of the lucky ones, returning safely from the war, but unexpectedly dies from a brain aneurism one night. Finding it difficult to move on from the loss, Fanny also feels unprepared to be a single mom and earn a living to support her family. Her aunt Rose gives her time to heal but then encourages her to find a career path (already outside of the norm for a woman at the time, typically expected to be housewives and sewists), and she ends up as a secretary to a soap opera writer. There's a great exploration of feminism and individuality for Fanny in this novel - we see her move on from the death of her husband, find a way to be the best mother she can be for her daughter, take a risk at becoming a screenwriter (one that proves fruitful), and break away from societal norms for women. There's also an exploration of McCarthyism, an intriguing part of our history.

Outside of her writing career, the novel explores two men in Fanny's life: Dr. Ezra and writer Charlie Berlin. As time passes and the women in her life encourage her to move on and marry, there's a choice to make: Do I marry Extra, a doctor with traditional values, a man who expects her to stop working once she has children, the safe option, or Charlie, the risky writer who challenges her to push her career path even if it means risking a potential blacklist. Who will she choose?

Regarding the above question, I wanted to shake Fanny - how could it take her as long as it did to realize which man was right for her? For someone who was growing so much in her individuality, I couldn't believe what she was willingly putting up with in terms of disagreements with one of the two suitors. Expanding on the 3.5 stars, I could not keep up with the characters and, for the life of me, couldn't remember who was whose aunt, mother, daughter, friend, etc. I knew that would be a problem from a few pages in, and I kept thinking the characters would eventually make sense to me, but they never did. I found the book fast-paced in that the dialogue was very simple - but I wouldn't call it exhilarating, and it dragged quite a bit in the middle.

However, I'd love to read another novel by this author - maybe this one wasn't for me, but there's no denying that the story kept my attention, and it did have me wanting to get to the end!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I Voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced copy of this book. All Thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is such a great read. I love historical romances and this does not disappoint.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin Press for an advanced copy of The Trouble with You by Ellen Feldman. I love reading WW2 historical novels, and as this novel takes place post WW2, I was looking forward to the change. I was not disappointed. Ms. Feldman's novel focuses on the social issues faced during that time by women. I love the powerful and non conforming characters of Fanny and Aunt Rose depicted in this novel A very enjoyable read..