BEAUTYLAND

Kline’s debut novel presents a three-decade chronicle of a financially struggling woman working her way up in the beauty-product industry.

Emma O’Farrell Paige always wanted more out of her life. When she was a child, her parents, career con-artists, bounced her around from town to town as they pursued their latest schemes, which made it impossible for Emma to feel at home anywhere. When her mother and father move her to her grandparents’ land in a rural part of the state, she finishes high school with the goal of getting out of there. She and her boyfriend, high school baseball star Ethan Paige, plot their way out; he has a dream of playing ball in the major leagues, and she follows her path to success in the beauty-product industry, which involves cosmetics, perfume, and many colorful characters. As Ethan’s goal becomes increasingly unlikely, Emma quickly rises in her chosen field, making herself indispensable to industry leaders. She makes allies and enemies who propel her further along her trajectory. Along the way, Emma faces a series of tribulations, including vindictive and overbearing bosses, job insecurity, backstabbing, classism, an FBI investigation into perfume counterfeiting, and a marriage beset by challenges. Kline displays an impressive knowledge of the business in which Emma dwells, and this is the novel’s main strength. However, the story suffers from the fact that it often states what the characters are feeling, rather than showing it through action. Also, Emma confusingly narrates the events of her life from some unspecified future point; the story begins in 2003, flashes back to her ’70s childhood, then moves chronologically to some unspecified time, years after the story began. Some moments of dialogue are amusing and effective, and readers may be left wanting more of it: “Your banker-on-a-spring-afternoon ensemble does not exactly scream Moschino brand.” Instead, the narration too often reads like a passive summary.

A detailed business drama that evokes Sex and the City but is hampered by awkward execution.