Set amongst the glittering backdrop of London's iconic Savoy hotel, a young woman is forced to confront her troubled past as she uncovers the story of the hotel’s first female bartender who has been erased from the history books.

Set amongst the glittering backdrop of London's iconic Savoy hotel, a young woman is forced to confront her troubled past as she uncovers the story of the hotel’s first female bartender who has been erased from the history books.

Set amongst the glittering backdrop of London's iconic Savoy hotel, a young woman is forced to confront her troubled past as she uncovers the story of the hotel’s first female bartender who has been erased from the history books --- "an exhilarating, tender read that will leave you smiling" (Fiona Davis, bestselling author).
 
Six years ago, Cinnamon Scott was a young writer on the rise in New York City. But since the sudden loss of her parents, she's been stuck in place, retreating to a life of endless partying --- made possible by the massive fortune she's inherited. Despite their tragic loss, she and her older sister, Rosemary, have always had each other to lean on. But now, with Rosie living in London and about to give birth to twins, Cinnamon feels more lost than ever.

When Rosie is put on bedrest, Cinnamon flies to her sister's side, where she's temporarily living at The Savoy. Immediately swept away by the beauty and history of the legendary hotel and its famed American Bar, Cinnamon finds ample opportunity to distract herself. When the late-shift bartender tells her the story of Ada Coleman, the woman who crafted the cocktail recipes The Savoy popularized in its famous handbook a century ago, Cinnamon is inspired by the bartender's vivid stories of Ada's fearlessness and can't understand why Ada's name is nowhere to be found.

After meeting a handsome historian researching the hotel and realizing that Ada is likely to be once again overlooked, Cinnamon must decide if she can overcome her demons and stand up for Ada's story. And, along the way, she just might save her own story too.

They were an unlikely pair --- a blond bombshell and a photographer determined to be taken seriously --- but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives.

They were an unlikely pair --- a blond bombshell and a photographer determined to be taken seriously --- but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives.

They were an unlikely pair --- a blond bombshell and a photographer determined to be taken seriously --- but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives in this dazzling new novel from the nationally bestselling author of MRS. POE and THE WOMAN WITH THE CURE.

In 1952, Norma Jeane Baker follows documentary photographer Eve Arnold into a powder room on the night they first meet. She has a proposition for her. Norma Jeane created Marilyn Monroe to be photographed, and she wants Eve to do it. Eve is better than anyone she’s seen at revealing a person’s inner truth. Together they can help each other. Together, she says, they can make something brilliant.

Skeptical of this cipher of a young woman, Eve demurs. She’s looking for more serious subjects than this ambitious starlet. But she keeps getting drawn back into Marilyn’s orbit, and the women come to recognize something in each other --- something fundamental. Nothing will get in the way of what they want, and when Marilyn’s star takes off to teetering heights, neither will ever be the same.

A lavish and transporting novel, WHEN WE WERE BRILLIANT captures the halcyon days of an icon and the grit of women determining their own futures as it explores the exceptional and complicated friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold.