Historical fiction is really about current issues, just placed in a different time to make the ideas more palatable. In this case, The Girls in the Picture is ostensibly a chronicle of Mary Pickford (the first movie star) and Frances Marion (an early screenwriter and director) from the 1910s through to 1969 – but it’s about women who care passionately about work, being the only woman in the room, and female friendship.
I’d like to read more about these topics please. Women who support each other, women who like both work and relationships, and all of the things they go through to succeed? All of them are good.
The characterization and the writing – they were fine. I like the ideas of the book more than I liked their instantiation. The Girls in the Picture wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t so compelling that I needed to finish it immediately. It was a good story to read a chapter or two of before sleeping at night.