White Gloves & Rob Roys

Purchase the book at:

A selection of reader reviews...

This was a beautifully crafted mystery of times gone by. Beautiful character development and very smooth transitioning form one era to another and back. Ms. Saari captured so much of the formality and restriction of the 30's, and how women found ways to navigate through a man's world. The subtle buildup of a decades old mystery kept me riveted! Just a wonderful story.

Saari takes the reader into a world where the glass ceiling was still very much in place for women of smarts and ambition in New York City. Intelligence and independent spirits bring a group of women together while- at the same time- isolating them. These elements are looked at with empathy, humor, understanding, nostalgia and a clear love for women who forged paths for those of us that have followed them. Take the ride, it's fun!

A very interesting and entertaining read - and a plot which, with perfect timing given current events, deals with the similar and even more difficult challenges faced by women of an earlier era - with both humor and a creative solution. It is filled with colorful characters and details and was a pleasure to read.

Really fun book - hard to put down as I finished it within two days. Characters were well drawn and believable. The plot, sort of a mystery involving a quartet of "older women" who fall victim to a scam artist, moves quickly and easily holds the readers interest. One sure strength of the novel is the rich descriptions of New York life and locations during both the 1930's and 1960"s. Clearly author Saari knows of what she writes

This is an absorbing story of secrets, revenge, and murder in the lives of 5 women and the reporter to whom they reveal their story many years later. My favorite character though, is New York itself, and Ilona, a native New Yorker who lived and worked in Manhattan for many years is an excellent guide opening all sorts of doors for us that we'd otherwise never get past. The detail she includes about the peculiarities of food and fashion and slang (Cops saying old NYC stuff like "paying off the vig to the shys" etc.) in the two eras she deals with (the early 20th century and the 60s) gives a really granular feeling to the book and we get a very sensate experience of the city. You can almost taste NY and feel all its excitement, promise, and hardships. The story crackles along at a nippy pace incorporating famous events like the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and taking us inside some of the most storied dining spots of both eras. New Yorkers will smile in recognition and NYC lovers will feel the itch to get back there soon.

Loved this book! It's about real women who find themselves facing sexism in the workforce and in their love lives, but it's written within a murder mystery. I love how it goes back and forth between 1968 and the 30's (and even before that) where we get to see the characters come alive through their own eyes. Basically, it's about a female reporter who meets some women at Schrafft's Restaurant in NY (the only restaurant that allowed single women to enjoy a cocktail and dinner)... and learns how they got revenge after being conned out of their fortunes. A great look at New York, at women, and a good mystery, too!

Ilona Joy Saari is a freelance writer who’s worked in many genres, from television/film to essayist to rock’n’roll press to political campaigns.  She was a Deputy Press Secretary for President Jimmy Carter, a press liaison for two Democratic Presidential conventions and has written many speeches for celebrities stumping for presidential candidates and women’s issues for the Clinton Gore campaigns.  Her essays have been published in newspapers such as the NY Daily News and others across the country.  Her first novel is titled, “Freeze Frame.”  She is currently a columnist for the glossy magazine, Ojai Quarterly and a contributor to Huffington Post.  “White Gloves & Rob Roys is Ilona’s second novel.”
 
She blogs for food.  www.mydinnerswithrichard.blogspot.com