A Beautiful Rival: A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden

Twentieth-century beauty industry pioneers Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden had many things in common, but the biggest thing they shared drove their intense rivalry: determination to do whatever it took to see their personal line of beauty products reign supreme. In her new historical novel, Paul (Jackie and Maria; The Manhattan Girls) traces their bitter competition over everything from packaging to pricing from the early days of World War I until just after World War II, showing how both women escalated the rivalry with tactics such as poaching staff, spying on each other, and feeding negative stories to the press. Polish-born and Jewish, Helena sees Elizabeth as an antisemitic snob, while Elizabeth sees Helena as a dreadfully vulgar social climber. Though the pair rarely confront each other face to face, gossip and their own prejudices make both of them sure that they understand their rival perfectly.