All the Beautiful Girls

In lots of ways this follows a formula: victimised young girl achieves her dream through grit and determination, but then realises that material wealth can't cover the scars of her past.

What gives it interest is the Las Vegas setting where Ruby is a showgirl - I loved this section: the absurd OTT glitz, the implicit sexism, the fakery that is Vegas that pretends the civil rights movement, Vietnam, are not happening.

In some ways this reminded me of a tamer, less scandalous Valley of the Dolls, and once the plot moves away from Vegas, while it's necessary for Ruby's life journey, the book falls flat. Beware, there are graphic scenes of abuse at the start, and Ruby isn't always the brightest of heroines. All the same, this has *something* about it that kept me enjoyable gripped through the central sections. Good for when you need a girly read with more substance than chick-lit.

We follow the plight of Lily who becomes Ruby when she grows to the age when she can escape her abusive home to be a dancer in Vegas. The man who killed her family is her secret supporter, and he has a secret of his own that emerges as this splendidly melodramatic novel unwinds. A poor orphan, beset by unloving grim carers/relatives dreams of escaping and resorts to personal self-harm and chooses a rogue boyfriend herself - but her loving fellow-dancers - her angels, one of whom was introduced to her by another paternal figure who she leans to trust .. all the elements of a weepy are here. I was only not sure of the title? And sometimes the twists and turns made me groan - 'what, one more bad thing laid on her' - the ending is perhaps a fantasy and begins to feel like one but it ends quickly enough so we don't find it too wearing. Good entertainment.

This is not a book I'd normally have read but so pleased I decided to give it a go. It tells the story of Lily/Ruby from when she was orphaned as young child to early adulthood. Lily dreams of being a dancer and goes to Las Vegas to find fame and fortune. She becomes Ruby, the showgirl, and the story unfolds about friendship, love, betrayal and trust. The author tackles the issue of Lily's sexual abuse at the hands of her uncle in a very understanding way and shows how Lily/Ruby comes to terms with it as she matures. A very thought provoking book.

Gripped by this book from beginning to end, I could not put it down. Ruby Wilde is a glitzy showgirl in 1960s Las Vegas with seemingly everything she could wish for. But her childhood experiences refuse to let her free and so we stream with her through lows and highs, urging her on to happiness - yet like Ruby wondering if we dare believe this will be possible.

This is the story of Lily Decker who after being brought up by her Aunt and Uncle, after her parents and sister die in a car crash, becomes Ruby Wilde a showgirl in Vegas. This was a good read and I liked the way famous people are mentioned in the story. It made it seem more real.

All The Beautiful Girls is a fabulous story set in the 60's mostly in Las Vegas.What a great time to be a young show girl with all the glitz and the glamour .The main character Lily has a tragic childhood when her parents and sister are killed in a car accident ,she goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle .As soon as she is 16 she runs away from Kansas to Las Vegas as Lily dreams of being a dancer and reinvents herself as Ruby .The story tells of the fight she has to finally find herself .The writing is beautiful I really felt empathy with Lily I also loved the other friends she met in Vegas Rose and Vivid especially and of course the Aviator who turns out to be a real friend .I really enjoyed the lovely ending .I would give this book 10 stars if I could !

The setting of 1960s Las Vegas is what drew me to the book, and it didn’t disapoint. The book starts off with the story of Lily aged 8 years old, who has to go live with her aunt and uncle after her parents are killed in a crash. There are some descriptions of abuse but these are handled well.

My favourite part of the story is when she moves to Vegas to become a dancer. The descriptions of the casinos, and the glitz and glamour of it all mean you can imagine exactly what it would be like. The characters are well developed and thought out. Lily’s relationship with the man she dubs The Aviator is by far the most interesting and I loved their interactions.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book and I adored the character of Lily, who had such courage and determination to live her best life, even though her childhood is marred by tragedy and abuse. She moves to Vegas to become a dancer, and even though she soon realises her ambitions may exceed her talent, she crafts herself a glamorous existence as a dancer, mingling with the stars of the time and living a life full of luxury.
The descriptions of the dancers and their costumes are fabulous, and the superficial, glitzy and decadent lifestyle is brought vividly to life. This book is much more than froth and frippery though. The seedy side of Vegas is revealed as the dancers are expected to give the patrons a night to remember, drugs are introduced and Lily has to come to terms with the impact the abuse in her childhood holds over her and influences her adulthood decisions.
Whilst there are some hard lessons to learn, the book has a thread of hope running through it and Lily has the protection of her benefactor throughout.
Huge thanks to the author, the publishers and netgalley who provided the arc in return for an honest review.

From the book description, I was expecting to be immersed in the atmosphere of 1960s Las Vegas and I definitely got that. Elizabeth Church shows the reader both the surface glamour – the famous names, the glitzy costumes, the fantastic parties, the extravagant gifts - and the seedy underbelly – the drugs, the physical toll, the expectation to charm men attracted to the casinos by the beauty of the showgirls, to ‘give them memories’ to take home to their dull, everyday lives. Lily mingles with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. (‘a hepcat seducer who lured with junkie, fast-talking patter’), Paul Anka, Joe DiMaggio, Tom Jones. She is a witness to key events of the 1960s – the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the moon landings – while Vegas carries on regardless.

Eventually the glitter fades revealing a life that is shallow and empty. ‘Ruby was well aware that no one wanted her for who she was, for what she read or thought...To them, she was just like Vegas – all glitz and glamour. An anonymous blur, like a passing freight train.’

However All the Beautiful Girls is more than just the story of a Las Vegas showgirl. It’s a bildungsroman that charts Lily’s emotional journey as she struggles to overcome family tragedy, a traumatic childhood, thwarted ambition, the lure of the darker side of the showgirl lifestyle and find a sense of self-worth, acceptance and love.

When she leaves her hometown of Kansas, she effectively reinvents herself, adopting a new name, Ruby Wilde. ‘If Kansas could go from sea to prairie, if a frog egg could radically transform itself from an almost-fish with gills to an amphibian that left water for land, then Lily could transform, too.’ She dreams of becoming a dancer; dance being the one thing in her life that brings her joy. Arriving in Las Vegas she sees only possibility, star struck by the glamour of her new surroundings. ‘This, Ruby realized, is what happiness feels like. Freedom. Bubbling champagne, yellow birds, music and dance and neon and possibility.’

You somehow know it’s not going to be that easy. The scars Lily bears are not just psychological and hers will be an emotional journey of success, love, loss and betrayal. Aside from a few valued friends, the one positive and constant presence in Lily’s life is her faithful benefactor - the equivalent of a ‘fairy godmother’ – driven by motivations of their own. In the end, it transpires that Lily is not the only one with secrets and I’ll readily admit the author took me completely by surprise at one point. I do love an “I wasn’t expecting that!” moment in a novel.

I really enjoyed All the Beautiful Girls. It turned out to be a much more intense read than I’d been expecting - in a good way – but it has to be said there are some scenes that are hard to read. I loved Lily for her determination to follow her dream and to believe in herself, despite everything that happens to her along the way. The way Lily overcomes the tragedies that befall her made me think a little bit of the film ‘A Star Is Born’, starring the wonderful Judy Garland.

An elaborate and utterly elucidating description of life as a Las Vegas showgirl. Absolutely full of vibrating neon to colour the imagination. Lily knows disasters and has her demons but always hopes her dreams can come true.

Although this book is basically the story of Lily/Ruby a successful show girl in Las Vegas in the 1960s it is so much more.
It is a brave book which deals with subjects that are normally taboo child sexual abuse and domestic violence.But detailed in such a way that the reader is living Ruby,s life with her and how strong human nature is to overcome these abusers.
This is also a social commentary of life at that time for example a famous star like Sammy Davis Jr who although had star billing had to enter where he was appearing via the kitchen and not the main entrance.
It deals with attitudes to homosexuality and the horrors that male couples had to go through to hide their love and of course the main attraction Vegas and its show girls and the position of women as play thing for rich elderly men.
I loved this book and found it very thought provoking as to how far and how little society has progressed over the decades.

The film Showgirls meets Valley of the Dolls. Fab!

A young girls struggle to cope with tremendous hardships. Ruby/Lily is a great character who shows great strength. An interesting look at the world of the showgirls.
An enjoyable read.

It took me a while to get involved in this story. I found Lily Decker rather an abrasive character to start with, although that was hardly surprising, given the appalling events that had overshadowed her young life. She had two bright spots in her life, dancing lessons and her relationship with a man she called The Aviator. She didn't see him often, but they wrote to each other, and he would send her books to read. He had been involved in the motoring accident that had killed Lily's parents and sister, he felt guilty and tried to make it up to her as best he could, but she did not blame him, she regarded him as a loving friend. Lily had to live with her Aunt Tate and Uncle Miles, but their relationship was very strained, and as soon as she was old enough she ran away, to Las Vegas, to try her luck as a dancer.

In Vegas she calls herself Ruby, and she absolutely fails in her attempts to become a real dancer. She makes some good friends, and when she has no money left she has to go against her own prejudices and become a showgirl. It is not such a seedy life as she always imagined, she wears glamorous, if skimpy, costumes, and earns a lot of money. She does have to mingle with casino guests, but is able to do so on her own terms. This part of the story is very interesting, Lily/Ruby grows up, she learns to read people (or thinks she can), and receives many gifts of jewellery and fur coats from punters who she regards as friends. She leads a glamorous life, meeting many stars of the time (the seventies) like Sammy Davis Junior and Tom Jones.

Of course, it is not all sweetness and light, and Ruby makes some serious errors of judgement, she cannot read people quite as well as she thought, and her life takes a serious nose-dive. The final section of the book is about Ruby accepting the mistakes she made, and moving on to a contented life..
You learn a great deal about life in the seventies in this story, about how black people were treated, even if they were big stars, how homosexuality had to be a closely kept secret, especially if you were in the military. You don't hear very much about the mafia influence in Vegas as it doesn't particularly affect Ruby, but you do learn about problems with drug-taking, and the difficult consequences of that. Quite a thought-provoking story.

As a small child Lily Dexter is orphaned in a car crash and sent to live with her Aunt and Uncle. Her Aunt is strict, her Uncle abuses Lily and Lily's only escape is dance class, paid for by The Aviator, the man driving the car that crashed into her family. As soon as she can Lily leaves Kansas and reinvents herself as Ruby Wilde, glamorous 60s Las Vegas showgirl. However Lily (or Ruby) learns about love the hard way before finding peace.

For all its big themes, this reads as a 'light' story - a 'Valley fo the Dolls' for our times. However Church is such a good writer that actually the light touch works really well. Nothing is drawn in detail, child sexual abuse, self-harm, drug-taking, violent relationships all seem to happen without huge amounts of detail being made, yet the story is readable and enjoyable.

A great book by the author of "The Atomic Weight of Love", which I also enjoyed. Lily Decker is a complex character living at a time of change in America. She breaks boundaries and defies convention, which is risky but lovable. Her battle to overcome the traumas of her childhood is at the heart of the book but there is so much more to it than that. There is a great cast of characters, mostly fictional but also a sprinkling of real-life people. The descriptions of Las Vegas do not make me any more inclined to visit the place but it is possible to see the attraction to a certain type of person. Highly recommended.