It Girl by Allison Pataki

January 5, 2026

It Girl by Allison Pataki

Evelyn Talbot is a poor girl working for pennies at a Pittsburgh department store when an artist asks her to model for her. This leads to more modeling jobs, until Evelyn and her mother move to New York where Evelyn secures bigger modeling jobs and a chance for parts on Broadway. But Evelyn soon finds herself pursued by wealthy and powerful men who think it is their right to take advantage of women seeking to advance their careers or support their families.

Loosely based on the life of Evelyn Nesbit, the original Gibson Girl, whose jealous husband shot her former lover, New York architect Stanford White. But this version gives Evelyn the triumphant ending that she didn't get in real life. It pissed me off the way the men in Evelyn's life treated her, just like the sexual predators today treat vulnerable young women, men like Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Cosby, and others like them. Recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction about the Gilded Age.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Evelyn Nesbit

The Queen's Fortune by Allison Pataki

December 25, 2019

The Queen’s Fortune by Allison Pataki

I managed to hurt my back a couple of days before Christmas and spent most of Christmas Day in bed reading this highly entertaining historical novel.  There are worse ways to spend the day. 

Desiree Clary was the 16 year old daughter of a wealthy silk merchant when she met 24 year old Napoleon Bonaparte (or Napoleone Buonaparte, as he was known at that time), a Corsican soldier.  After a quick courtship, Napoleon asked Desiree to marry him; she agreed and Napoleon told her that he would send for her to join him in Paris to get married as soon as he established himself.  But once in Paris, Napoleon quickly fell for glamorous Viscountess Josephine de Beauharnais and abandoned Desiree to marry Josephine.  But Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte married Desiree’s sister Julie, so Napoleon and Desiree were destined to be connected for the rest of their lives.  Napoleon became the Emperor of France, but surprisingly Desiree went on to become the Queen of Sweden through her marriage.

Desiree Clary Bernadotte is a fascinating but little-known historical figure.  Pataki’s novel is well-researched and overall historically accurate.  Inaccuracies are mostly in the form of omitting certain details (such as how much time Desiree spent away from her husband, residing in France for most of her married life while he was living in Sweden) and the story is a little over-romanticized.  However, this is a great historical guilty pleasure read:  interesting characters, reasonable historical accuracy, royal gossip, lots of banquets, clothes, and palaces.  The writing is excellent and the story is fast-paced – it’s pretty hard to put down.  And the cover is gorgeous.  I had read about Desiree years ago in Annemarie Selinko’s novel Desiree.  I fell in love with her story then and enjoyed getting reacquainted with her.  Readers who enjoyed Philippa Gregory's Tudor queen series will enjoy The Queen's Fortune.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.