Gave me Mrs Maisel meets Mad Men vibes and I am here for it! I very much enjoyed the banter between family members and friends. I wanted more chapters truly to get to know the characters even better. Thank you Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. This author is becoming a go to read for me!

Another amazing book from Sara. Once I started reading, I was drawn into the story and could not stop reading. Behind Every Good Man is not to be missed! I am calling it, but this book will be a best seller and one that every book club will be talking about.

Bev is the type of woman that you envision when you think about woman empowerment! Instead of allowing her estranged husband's affair to define her, she paved her own path of independence. I love how supportive Bev's mother was and Michael. He did not downgrade Bev's intelligence but together they shined. If I had been in that time period, I would have voted for Michael.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sara Goodman Confino for this arc of Behind Every Good Man, out August 6,2024! Grab it for pre order now!

📝 Quick Summary:
It is the early 1960s, and Beverly is a homemaker to her two children and husband Larry. After unexpectedly, catching Larry in a rather startling predicament with his secretary, she knows she needs to make a decision for herself. Her overbearing, rude mother, does not support her need for a divorce. And while she battles this turbulent relationship with her mother, she also realizes she needs her more than ever right now. However, Beverly wants to stick up for herself and her family, by supporting herself. Thinking of the perfect way to get back at her husband, she gets a job helping Michael run for office, who is her husband’s opponent.

💡 Thoughts and Feelings: This book was quirky right from the start, and I absolutely loved it. I devoured her poetic writing, the beautiful prose about this time frame and its nuances, and loved Beverly’s character. I came to enjoy her parents and their relationship, even though there were major flaws. I felt like they had a lot of learning to do from the inside out, and it helped that their daughter was such a go getter.

“Behind every good man, is an even better woman.”

“What’s not worth much to us, may be worth a lot more to others.”

👍🏻or👎🏻: yes, yes, and yes! 🙌🏼 This will be one of my top favs of this year!

⭐️ Overall Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

*This novel was provided by the publisher, Lake Union, via Net Galley, in exchange for my honest review.*

This is the first book by the author that I read, and I loved it! The book reminded me of the story of Clementine, Winston Churchill's wife. The story goes that while out on an outing, she talked to a garbage truck driver. When Churchill found out he was her ex, he told her she could have been a garbage truck driver's wife today. Clementine gently answered: "Oh no, my love, if I had married him, he would be the prime minister today."

The book follows Beverly Diamond, a Jewish wife of Larry, a campaign manager, mother to two young children, and daughter of a retired congressman. The story is set in the early 1960s when women in the US had fewer rights than today. Larry runs the Maryland senatorial campaign for the incumbent candidate, Sam Gibson.

Beverly tries to be the perfect wife. She wakes up an hour before her husband to get the house ready and breakfast on the table, takes care of all his needs, and creates the illusion of a perfect household. It's when he goes to work that the kids cause havoc. After catching her husband in a compromising position with his secretary, she kicks him out. She is done being the perfect wife! Afraid of losing her home, she decides to look for a job, not an obvious thing for this period and class.

After several false starts, she decides to work for Sam's opponent, Michael Landau, to show her husband she is more than a pretty face and to get one over on him. Before Michael and Stuart, his campaign manager, know what hit them, she starts running the show. After all, “Behind every good man is an even better woman."

I am not a fan of political books, but I flew through the pages. Sara Goodman Confino sure knows how to write! I finished the book in a couple of days; it was that good. In times of increasing antisemitism and where evil is perceived as good, it was nice to read about simpler times and a Jewish character who is proud of her heritage and isn't shy about it. Not that there wasn't antisemitism then (Jewish people weren't welcome in some clubs, for example), but it wasn't as overt.

Beverly wasn't the only strong heroine. I enjoyed reading about the other heroines, her interactions with her parents, and the way she turned her life around. I admired her guts and drive and rooted for her. The mother, Millie, was great as well, and I grew to like her. In fact, the characters came to life on the page, and even the supporting characters were well-rounded.

This is more a story of relationships and love than a political one. There is some political talk, but it isn't heavy-handed or the main point of the tale. The author manages to explore themes of politics, family, female empowerment, values, and civil rights while telling a good tale with humor. I loved the book and highly recommend it. It is incredibly well-researched and intriguing to even a casual reader with little to no interest in politics or history. Full stars for an excellent book!

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

I loved every character in this book! The story flowed and the writing kept me engaged throughout. Sarah Goodman Confino does it again with witty, relatable, characters.

When Beverly Diamond discovers her husband in a compromising situation, it signals the end of the marriage.
With two young children, Beverly seeks employment to get her through until matters are settled. Due to her
background, she has the knowledge to run a political campaign for the underdog opponent. It just so happens that this will pit her against her husband, the campaign manager for the incumbent. Keeping in mind what she learned from her father, a retired politician and mother, she convinces her candidate to focus on women and minority voters who have been ignored by the opponent. A woman coming into her own.
#BehindEveryGoodMan #LakeUnionPublishing #NetGalley

This was a great book. I connected with the characters. I felt engrossed with the plot. I would read another book by this author.

Like this author's last book, the idea was okay but the execution is poor. I just don't enjoy this author's writing-- it is very simplistic and a bit juvenile. The dialogue often feels out of place for the time period. I found myself wanting more from the story and nearly stopped reading several times because I wasn't compelled to pick it back up.

Great novel, bringing us head to head with the rights of a woman. The author did a beautiful job bringing in humor to a subject that was so real, and in our lifetime. I love that she had a couple of cameos from her past books. Well done!

This book was amazing and such a fun read! I laughed so hard and I loved the main characters spunk! This is a book I'm going to gift to all my book girl friends. I will also be checking out more of her books and hope they are just as good and funny as this one.

We looove to see strong female representation!!!!! Such a feel good story with some romance and female empowerment mixed in there. This book just goes to show how strong women can be while juggling so many hats. I typically don’t care for a 1960s setting, but this was so good. It was giving marvelous Mrs. Maizel vibes and I LOVED that! 5 stars from me. I want to read it again because it’s just so dang good!!

Just when I thought Sara Goodman Confino couldn’t get any better - I get my hands on an ARC of this. Beverly was one of my favorite characters this year! I’m not one to typically enjoy fiction set in different eras, but here I am loving this one taking place in the 1960’s. Loved the story line, the feminist power Beverly had and the kick ass attitude. Loved the little easter eggs tucked in as a nod to last years release. There’s so much I can say about this one, and I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on it. Michael was a great politician (things I never thought I’d say from a story..) and loved the dynamic with Stuart. All that twists and turns and connections throughout the story made it a fun read. Can’t wait for this authors next!!

I loved this book, it was well written and drew me vividly into the protanist's world.
What I especially loved was the Jewish representation, which is so sorely missing from many books. Sara Goodman Confino is a visionary in a new generation of authors, who are finally putting the Jewish community on the page.
I also loved the feminist storyline, which was written very in tune with the times portrayed.
Anti-semitism was also depicted in a historically accurate and sensitive way.
I highly recommend this novel to all readers of women's fiction.

What a great story about a woman, Beverly Diamond who takes control of her life after leaving her husband in the 1960s. During a time when women were not encouraged to leave their husbands or pursue careers and balance that with being a mother. This story about politics, woman empowerment, motherhood struggles and humor was fun and engaging to read. Sara Goodman Confino does it again in another humorous historical fiction where she touches on issues in a way that makes you realize the struggles or everyday people.

Sara Goodman Confino has knocked it out of the park again. Her incredibly strong female characters are so relatable. I can’t wait to see what else she has in store. Incredibly well written and a delight to read from start to finish.

📚 Behind Every Good Man by Sarah Goodman Confino
5⭐️

What a delightful read! Set in 1962, Beverly is a happy housewife until she catches her husband in a compromising position with his secretary. In what starts as an act of revenge, Bev decides to work on the political campaign of the underdog challenging her husband’s boss. This book is funny and entertaining with well written characters. I loved the politics and the banter was great. Many thanks to Sarah Goodman Confino and Lake Union Publishing for this advanced copy. Behind Every Goodman releases on August 6. Make sure to pick it up for your end of summer trips-it’s a perfect vacation read.

If I could give this book 10 stars I would!

Sara Goodman Confino is becoming one of my fav authors and I will read anything she writes.

I'm a huge fan of Sara Goodman Confino and I was so happy to receive an early copy for review.
Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for access to the arc.
Behind Every Good Man is one of my favorite books of 2024 so far and I absolutely loved everything about it.

Beverly is such a strong heroine and it was so interesting to read her journey to be a working mom in 1962 and not just any working mom but she is working as a campaign manager for Michael Landau, who is running for a seat in the senate. His opponent is no other that her soon to be ex husband boss, the current senator from Maryland.

Beverly knows it will be hard for her to convince people she is up for the job since she is a woman and the year is 1962 but her father was part of DC politics for many years and she learned from him how to win a campaign and she isn't going to let anyone to stop her from her goal of helping Michael Landau to win.

The book shows how hard it is to be a working mom in a society that except women to stay home and raise the kids, Beverly has to ask her mom for help with the kids and also her best friend and she has many moments of guilt that I think every mom can relate to even in the year 2024.

Beverly 's mom moves in with her and the kids and she is defiantly not supporting of her working, she is afraid of gossip but as the book progress we discover more about her and her motives for moving in with Beverly.

I loved the interaction between Beverly and Michael especially the fact Michael truly took her ideas seriously and didn't dismiss her just because she is a woman. The relationship between them stars as purely professional but slowly they become friends and maybe even more.

I highly recommend reading Behind Every Good Man if you love reading about Female empowerment and enjoy historical fiction.

Love love loved this book! The story is very Mrs. Maisel takes on politics. I loved the period correct representations of the characters and events as well as the character development. Highly recommend!

I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this book. This story had everything I've come to love about Sara Goodman Confino's books - a well-developed and strong female lead, well-researched historical accuracy, fun and interesting supporting characters, and a fantastic storyline full of witty conversation. I especially loved the familial tie-in with another of Goodman Confino's books. If you've loved her other stories, you will also love this one. I will continue recommending this and her other books to anyone who asks for a book rec.

I love that this author can write historical fiction that is still so relevant today! Behind Every Good Man is the story about Beverly, a woman scorned, who decides that revenge is best served cold and discovers her voice and her place in society and in her terms! She’s a mother and a woman with a brain! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved that Marilyn from Don’t Forget to Write popped in and out of the story! 4.5 stars