Poster Girl: A Jane Benjamin Novel

by Shelley Blanton-Stroud

Overview

Cynical young gossip columnist Jane Benjamin joins FDR’s Office of War Information, a propaganda unit, to find a Wendy-the-Welder poster girl to urge more women to the shipyard work essential to America’s winning World War II—and, incidentally, to make herself into the new Hedda Hopper. But somebody doesn’t want those women at work.

During a five-day contest to beat the world speed record for building a liberty ship, Jane investigates the lives of the first women welders and learns more about her flyboy former lover’s secret post–Pearl Harbor mission—and her cynicism begins to melt. But when inspectors find and publicize a series of flaws in the contest-week welding, the women welders are blamed. Worse, two poster girl candidates are killed.

Are they being sabotaged by a belligerent male shipyard supervisor? The industrialist shipyard owner with a history of controlling women? Or someone else trying to diminish the success of the US liberty ship program? To find out, Jane must choose between her professional ambition and service to the women welders—before the murderer harms another girl and America’s best chance of winning the war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647425937
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Shelley Blanton-Stroud grew up in California's Central Valley, the daughter of Dust Bowl immigrants who made good on their ambition to get out of the field. Recently retired from teaching writing in Northern California, she continues to consult with writers in the energy industry. She has served as President of the Board of 916 Ink, an arts-based creative writing nonprofit for children, and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies at Claremont McKenna College. She previously co-directed Stories on Stage Sacramento, where actors perform the stories of established and emerging authors. Her historical mystery series—Copy Boy, Tomboy, and Poster Girl—follows Jane Benjamin, a cross-dressing, tomato-picking, San Francisco gossip columnist who investigates crime stories that never make the front page in 1930s and '40s Northern California. Her fourth novel, An Unlikely Prospect, features a new protagonist in the same world. She and her husband live in Sacramento, California.

Editorial Reviews

Lively prose, enjoyably edgy dialogue, and a delightful, unconventional, feminist heroine add up to a captivating page-turner.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Fans of Tracy Chevalier and Kate Atkinson will love being immersed in the detail-driven historical atmosphere, while hard-boiled mystery fans will thoroughly enjoy being led by our whip-smart and street-savvy heroine through the maze of clues leading to a shocking final plot twist.”
—Chicago Book Review, 5 stars

“Aficionados of historical fiction and the Jane Benjamin series will be delighted . . . The novel is an excellent read, with sympathetic characters and set in a place and time that leaps off the page.”
—San Francisco Book Review, 5 stars

“Mirroring ongoing misogyny, racial discrimination, and economic challenges women continue to face today, Poster Girl takes readers behind the scenes to experience the toll exacted on women who dared to break molds in the 1940s. A five-star read. Highly recommended.”
—Ashley E. Sweeney, author of Hardland, Answer Creek, and Eliza Waite

“A cracking plot, exquisite detail, and grand cast of characters.”
—Catriona McPherson, author of In Place of Fear

“Jane Benjamin has come into her own in this third book of the series. A fast-paced story that had me turning pages long into the night. Highly recommend!”
—Michelle Cox, author of The Henrietta and Inspector Howard series

“A can’t-put-it-down kind of book . . . every moment perfectly crafted to keep the reader turning pages to the gripping end.”
—Laurie Buchanan, author of The Sean McPherson Series

“A high-wire, ripped-from-vintage-headlines series-ender.”
—Gretchen Cherington, author of The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy

“A historically accurate, action-packed adventure, making WWII era intrigue and sexual and racial discrimination feel contemporary.”
—Maren Cooper, author of Behind the Lies

“Casts an observant eye on the misogyny, racism, and classism of the time, allowing the reader to witness that not much has changed.”
—Mary Camarillo, author of The Lockhart Women

“A page-turner that delivers a strong message for our time: we must take care of each other. I absolutely loved this novel.”
—Debra Thomas, author of Luz

“Weaves challenging and timeless social issues into a story about people we grow to care about while maintaining tension and suspense—you won’t put this one down.”
—Anastasia Zeidek, author of Blurred Fates

Praise for Tomboy:

“A wonderful story full of nuance and character.”
—Sheldon Siegel, NYT and USA Today best-selling author of the Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez series

Praise for Copy Boy:

“Smart, lively, and suspenseful, this is Raymond Chandler for feminists.”
—Sharma Shields, author of The Cassandra

From the Publisher

2023-07-19
When a young female welder dies in a shipyard accident, a reporter suspects foul play in Blanton-Stroud’s mystery novel.

On Saturday, November 7, 1942, the Lowe Shipyard in Richmond, California is buzzing with excitement. Owner Adam Lowe is about to announce a contest, a challenge for his workers to build the next Liberty Ship in less than one week, beating the 10-day record recently set by the Lowe Portland shipyard up north. Plus, Adam has just hired, for the first time, women welders for the Richmond yard. This second part of the announcement is met with decidedly less enthusiasm. Jane Benjamin, gossip columnist for the local San Francisco Prospect, is there to cover the event. As the ceremony draws to a close, whistles and a horn sound from Yard Two of the complex. Jane follows her instincts and runs toward the whistle. There she sees the lifeless body of a young woman, Jeannie Lyons, her hand curled around a welding wand (“She lay at the base of a U-shaped concrete deck, facing the watery bays where five partly built ships lined up, the middle bay empty, like a missing tooth”). The death is declared to be work-related, resulting from carelessness and inexperience. Ambitious and intrepid, Jane has an idea to patriotically promote the replacement of soon-to-be-drafted male workers with women who can contribute to the war effort. The shipyard will run a contest to select a poster girl—Wendy the Welder—and Jane will have a career-boosting story. This third volume in the Jane Benjamin series gradually builds its way into an action-packed thriller as Jane races to uncover the nefarious doings at the shipyard before she becomes one of the victims. Intermingled with the sinister plotline are the politics, prejudices, and societal restrictions of the period, issues that lamentably still have currency. Appearances by notorious columnist Hedda Hopper add a realistic touch to the media frenzy, as well as some satisfying levity. Lively prose, enjoyably edgy dialogue, and a delightful, unconventional, feminist heroine add up to a captivating page-turner.

An intriguing, tense, and entertaining read, with a sturdy female protagonist.

Kirkus Reviews