Ella Berman – Emma's Biblio Treasures

SQUADPOD BOOK CLUB: L.A. Women by Ella Berman

Published August 5th, 2025 by Aria
Historical Fiction, Suspense, Psychological Fiction

Happy publication day to this atmospheric and seductive story. Thank you to Aria for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

‘My Brilliant Friend meets Daisy Jones and the Six in this immersive story of friendship and rivalry… Berman is at her finest’ T. Greenwood, author of Keeping Lucy

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An electrifying novel about the complicated friendship between two ambitious writers and the ultimate artistic betrayal: one writes a book based upon the other’s life, revealing everything.from the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick Before We Were Innocent.

After a steady descent from literary stardom, Lane Warren is back. She’s secured a new book deal based off the life of her sometime friend and, more often, rival Gala Margolis. Lane’s only problem is that notorious free spirit Gala has been missing for months.

Ten years earlier, Gala was a charming socialite and Lane was a Hollywood outsider amidst the glittering 1960s L.A. party scene. Though they were never best friends, Lane found Gala sharp and compelling. Gala liked that Lane took her seriously. They were both writers. They were drawn to each other.

That was until Gala’s star began to rise, and Lane grew envious. Then Lane did something that she wouldn’t ever be able to take back.changing the trajectories of both their lives.

Bold, dazzling, and crackling with tension, L.A. Women plunges readers into the legendary parties and unparalleled creativity of iconic Laurel Canyon, while exploring the impossible choices women face when ambition collides with intimacy. At what cost does great art emerge? And who pays the price?

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MY REVIEW:

Los Angeles, 1965. Lane Warren moves from New York in order to work on her first novel. As she tries to acclimatise to her new home, she begins to attend parties in the Hollywood Hills. It is there that she first meets Gala Margolis, a free spirit who seems to know everyone. The two are never best friends but they are drawn to one another and develop a friendship. As Gala’s literary star begins to rise, Lane is offered a book deal to write about their friendship. As the months go by, Lane feels deep guilt about writing the book, leading to a search for her friend that will uncover dark and shocking secrets…

Seductive, bold, mysterious and suspenseful, L. A. Women is a slow-burning story about friendship, rivalry, jealousy and betrayal. Set in L.A. during the 60s and 70s, Ella Berman brings the city and its Laurel Canyon music and art scene to life in vivid technicolour. It is these alcohol and drug-fuelled parties that serve as a backdrop for the story and the friendship between our two central characters, Lane and Gala. These women are fantastic characters. Richly drawn and compelling, they were fun to read, had me invested in their lives and pulled me into their glamorous but murky world. While both are ambitious writers trying to make a name for themselves in a male-dominated industry, that is where their similarities end. Lane is quieter, more reserved and barely drinks, while Gala is the bawdy, flirty and wild party girl. Their relationship is toxic from the start and I’d call them more frenemies than friends, having a years-long rivalry that leaves a trail of destruction in both their lives.

Twist-filled, surprising, and full of the ups and downs life brings, this is a book that takes you through every emotion as Berman explores topics such as homophobia, reproductive rights, addiction, marriage, motherhood and fame. Gala’s disappearance also hangs over the story from the start, giving the whole book an air of mystery, foreboding and a ton of questions I needed to know the answers to. Central to the story is Lane’s book about Gala, which is intricately interwoven with not only Gala’s disappearance, but also Lane’s inner fears of failure. She is wracked with guilt and remorse and worried that by writing the book she’s using Gala just as so many others have done. Gala haunts her wherever she goes and nothing she writes is working. So, she decides to find her, but is unprepared for the life-changing revelations she will uncover.

An atmospheric and thought-provoking read.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ella Berman grew up in both Los Angeles and London, where she studied psychology before working at Sony Music. Her debut novel, The Comeback, was selected as a Read with Jenna book club pick, and her follow-up, Before We Were Innocent, was a Reese’s Book Club pick. Raised by two former hippies on the music and art of the 1960s and 70s, she lives in London with her husband, their senior dog, and their daughter. Her third novel, L.A WOMEN is out in August, 2025.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Bookshop.org* | Waterstones* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxx

SQUADPOD FEATURED BOOKS: The Comeback by Ella Berman

Published April 11th, 2024 by Aria
Psychological Fiction, Thriller, Literary Fiction, Legal Thriller, Political Thriller

Welcome to my review for this courageous and compelling thriller. This was one of our recent SquadPod Featured Books. Thank you to Aria for the gifted proof in exchange for an honest review.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

They say she owes him everything.
Now she wants to burn it all to the ground.

Grace Turner was one movie away from Hollywood’s A-List. So no one understood why, at the height of her career and on the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, she disappeared.

Now, one year later, Grace is back in Los Angeles and ready to reclaim her life on her own terms.

When Grace is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to director Able Yorke – the man who controlled her every move for eight years – she knows there’s only one way she’ll be free of the secret that’s already taken so much from her.

The Comeback is a moving and provocative story of justice – a true page-turner about a young woman finding the strength and power of her voice, from the author of Reese’s Book Club pick Before We Were Innocent.

‘Beautifully written and compulsively readable.At its core, this book is about redemption, grace, and pain.’ – Jenna Bush Hager

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MY REVIEW:

“Maybe their turn for winning is over, Grace. Maybe it’s our turn now.”

An empowering, courageous and thought-provoking story that reveals the darkness that lurks beneath the glamour and glitz of Hollywood, The Comeback is a story that demands to be read. The story is told by Grace, a young Hollywood starlet who was on the cusp of making the A-List when she suddenly disappeared. Now, after a year of isolation at her parents’ home in Anaheim, Grace has returned to L.A. and is slowly rebuilding her life on her own terms. From the start there’s a sense of a secret hidden under the surface. A secret she doesn’t want to face. But she may not have a choice because just as she’s getting her life back on track she is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to her director Able Yorke. It seems perfect: the young actress honouring the man who discovered her and then mentored her for eight years. Suddenly Grace’s past demons are refusing to stay hidden and she must finally confront the things she’s been running from for so long.

The #MeToo movement highlighting Hollywood’s culture of sexual abuse and rape is now well known, but this story was originally conceived a few months before it in early 2017 and published in the US in 2020. Since then we have heard countless stories of the horrendous abuse actors and actresses were subjected to by those in authority, including the recent documentary ‘Quiet on Set’ which focused on the terrible treatment of Hollywood’s child stars. Grace’s story of coercive control, isolation, fear, and abuse, parallels many of the stories we are now familiar with. But that doesn’t make it any less potent or heartrending. With beautiful, bleak and bold writing, Ella Berman has crafted an achingly authentic story that gets under your skin, exposing the steep price many have had to pay for fame and fortune while making us look at Hollywood and celebrity gossip through a new lens.

“The most vicious demons have always been my own, and I’ve never learned how to protect myself from them. I have tried to move quietly through the world, figuring that if I could just forget what happened, then I could move on, but maybe it doesn’t work like that.”

This story wouldn’t work without a well written central character and Bermann has got the ‘everyday girl plucked from obscurity’ down to a tee. Fractured, flawed, vulnerable, and real, she is haunted by the trauma she’s been subjected to for eight years while everyone has told her how lucky she is. Her actions aren’t always right, but they are understandable, particularly as she confronts what she’s been through after burying it deep inside for so long. The other characters are equally as well-written and compelling and I liked how Berman illustrates the dysfunctional and transactional nature of the relationships in Grace’s life, highlighting the difficulty of maintaining healthy relationships when you work in Hollywood, and the problems that arise when trying to support someone through hardships such as addiction, trauma, and mental health issues.

The other character who is vital to get right is the villain of the story and I felt like Berman skillfully captured Able York. Able is charismatic, charming, seductive, shrewd, and cunning. This man gave me chills. He cleverly calculates his moves and is a total slimeball underneath the ‘nice guy’ persona he portrays. He knows just how to isolate and intimidate his victims and you can understand how Grace fell for his act, especially when so young and naive.

Melancholy, consuming, brutal and vivid, The Comeback is a timely story of bravery, strength, and the power of finding your voice. Highly recommended.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Ella Berman grew up in both London and Los Angeles and worked at Sony Music before starting the clothing brand London Loves LA. She lives in London with her husband, James, and their dog, Rocky. The Comeback is her first novel.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx