First published 2024
Margo Hightower's world collapses in 1961. Her engagement ends, her family faces scandal, and her money runs out. Then photographer Slim Aarons hires her as his assistant. Aarons captures vibrant images of high society figures, royalty, and Hollywood celebrities. Margo travels from Acapulco's bright beaches to New York's glitzy parties, watching the jet set world she desires from behind the camera. She observes Jackie Kennedy, Truman Capote with his Swans, and various Vanderbilts. When they reach Palm Beach, a city of few rules and abundant wealth, work and pleasure merge. Margo enters the social circle and befriends Lilly Pulitzer, the heiress turned fashion designer. The golden life appears within her grasp. But complicated loyalties and hidden secrets create a web that threatens to destroy everything she has gained.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, 21st-century, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Acapulco, New York, Palm Beach
Period: 1961
571 pages · Library Binding · Thorndike Press Large Print