Description
"The Devil Wears Prada meets Sex and the City" - PEOPLE Magazine
Climbing in Heels, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas's debut novel, is a fictional tale of the rise of three secretaries at the hottest agency in 1980's Hollywood, giving you a glimpse into the boys-will-be-boys club and the women who wanted a seat at a table where they were expected to serve.
It's the story of friendship, betrayal, survival, standing up when they pass you by, and saying I won't go when they want you gone. And it's also a story about how some of those women became very much like the monsters who trained them.
Meet Beanie Rosen, the fast-talking and even faster-thinking Valley girl who knows where she wants to go, and doesn’t care if she doesn’t look the part.
Mercedes Baxter, who learned early on how to leverage the monied friends of her monied friends' parents until she found a foothold in Hollywood.
And Ella Gaddy, a sexy free-spirit anti-debutante from a white-glove Kentucky home who shakes up any room she walks into.
Read Climbing in Heels and watch these women meet, meld, fight, strategize and climb their way into your heart.
A rollicking tale of sex, drugs, and power – in heels.
Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas was a top agent at the William Morris Agency (WMA) in the late 1980s and at ICM (International Creative Management) in the 1990s. She represented many A-list actors, including Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, and Madonna.
Product Details
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Publish Date | April 29, 2025 |
| Pages | 384 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781250274786 |
| Dimensions | 243.8 X 6.5 X 1.2 inches | 1.2 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"The heart of the book is gossip: agent politics and dirty dealings, actor name-drops, affairs left and right, power and the power-hungry. [And main character] Beanie is smart, tenacious, and fun to watch...Juicy." - Kirkus
“Sexy, sharp, and unapologetically bold, CLIMBING IN HEELS plunges you into the glamour and grit of Hollywood in the 1980s. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas delivers an entertaining debut, pulling readers into the messy, electric lives of three women who refuse to be sidelined.” —ALISSA DeROGATIS, AUTHOR OF CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT
“If you love Hollywood stories—from Valley of the Dolls to What Makes Sammy Run?, to The Player—get this book now. Get it, read it, share it, gift it. You won’t be able to put this delicious book down. So, grab a cup of coffee and curl up with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas’s CLIMBING IN HEELS. You’ll be really glad you did.” —AMY FERRIS, AUTHOR OF MARRYING GEORGE CLOONEY
“CLIMBING IN HEELS is a smart, dishy, juicy, inside-Hollywood novel by one of the industry’s ultimate insiders. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas has created an unforgettable, scrappy, and whip-smart outsider in the young and ambitious Beanie Rosen, who breaks into the legendary Sylvan Light Agency and rises to the top. It’s a sharply observed, brilliantly plotted, and bighearted page-turner!” —LAURA ZIGMAN, AUTHOR OF SEPARATION ANXIETY
AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
“CLIMBING IN HEELS is a wildly entertaining journey of three women who have to navigate the sex, drugs, and boys’ club mentality of 1980s Hollywood, written by someone who was there. It’s moving, insightful, and shows us how far we’ve come—and how far we need to go. It’s a book you won’t put down, with characters you won’t forget. I loved it!” —DARREN STAR, CREATOR OF SEX AND THE CITY AND EMILY IN PARIS
“The perfect book for this moment. A wildly entertaining, fully transportive master-class in how powerful women write (and rewrite) their own Cinderella stories. The fact that it’s set in the hottest era of Hollywood is icing on top.” —JESSIE ROSEN, AUTHOR OF THE HEIRLOOM
“CLIMBING IN HEELS is a smart, sexy, entertaining debut novel about three women who try to forge their own paths in 1980s Hollywood—a subject Elaine lived and breathed in real time, coming up in the golden age of the power agent. You will cheer for these women, fear for these women, and be seduced into loving them. I couldn’t put it down!”
—JENNIFER LOPEZ
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