Overview
From the author of the “delightful” (New York Times Book Review) Mary Jane, a new novel of found family, growing up, and the best and worst of the 1980s, revolving around San Francisco’s most exclusive department store, I. Magnin.
Nineteen-year-old Zippy can hardly believe it: she’s the newest and youngest salesgirl at I. Magnin, “San Francisco’s Finest Department Store.” Every week, she rotates her three spruced-up Salvation Army outfits and Vaseline-shined pumps; still, she’s thrilled to walk those pumps through the employee entrance five days a week as she saves to buy something new. For a girl who grew up in a one-bedroom apartment above a liquor store with her mother and her mother’s madcap boyfriend, Howard; a girl who wanted to go to college but had no help in figuring out how; I. Magnin represents a real chance for a better and more elegant life. Or, at the very least, a more interesting one.
Zippy may not be in school, but she’s about to get an education that will stick with her for decades. Her fellow salesgirls (lifetime professionals) run the gamut from mean and indifferent to caring and helpful. The cosmetics ladies on the first floor share both samples and advice (“only date a man with a Rolex”); and her new roommate, Raquel, an ambitious lawyer, tells Zippy she can lose ten pounds easy if she joins Raquel in eating only every other day. Just when Zippy thinks she’s getting a handle on how to be an adult woman in 1985, two surprises threaten both her sense of self and her coveted position at I. Magnin.
Set in the Day-Glo colors of 1980s San Francisco, Shopgirls is an intoxicating novel of self-discovery, outrageous fashion, and family both biological and found.
Review
I have done some thinking about this book. And I settled on a 3 star rating. And I hate to do that because I love, love, love this author. You cannot beat her book Mary Jane. But, even though this book has some of her brilliance. I just did not enjoy it quite like her other books, and I have read them all.
This story follows Zippy. She is a young, naive sales girl for I. Magnin. I loved Zippy’s intelligence and her work ethic. She knows how to read her clients and this leads to quite a lot of jealousy with her other sales girls.
I enjoyed reading about I. Magnin and how their process worked. And all the gorgeous clothes. This is a unique setting for sure!
However, this story is a bit slow and drawn out. There is a bit too much of the sales and who is buying what. And the paper dolls…🤷🏻♀️. These just didn’t seem to fit. You will need to read this to find out.
But, Zippy is the reason for everything in this book and she is a character that will keep you reading. She has a lot to learn and discover and she has such a big heart.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
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