Beyond the Blonde

By Kathleen Flynn-Hui

Book Overview

The Devil Wears Prada meets Steel Magnolias in this fictionalized account of the real-life rise of Kathleen Flynn-Hui, star of the hot Manhattan Salon AKS. Welcome to Jean-Luc, New Yorks hottest salon... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446500178
• ISBN13: 9780446500173
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

4 1/2 Sugary but Substantial; Fun Reading for Men and Women

Hey--enough with the chick lit (or chic--it is about style!) label; color me one guy who enjoyed this very much. Kathleen Flynn-Hui novel is funny, warm, and a page-turning treat. Her best writing observes the socio-economic lifestyle of New York's elite, beginning with her much admired categorization of the five types of clients who have her hair colored by the protagonist ("Georgia"), to her descriptions of the frivolous activites of the rich and usually famous (e.g., "Le Chic Chien," a fashion show with designer clothes on pampered dogs) to the cut throat gossip and competition designed to maintain or improve one's already-elevated social status. The book follows Georgia's ascent from beauty school in her hometwon of Weekeepmie, New Hampshire--with an earlier education from her mom. Doreen, who operates her own "low-end" salon--to the heights of fame at Jean Luc's salon in Manhattan. Georgia has a "tough broad" voice, the reader learns how she really feels about her generally spoiled and always demanding clientele who come from the most rarified strata of publishing, TV, movies, publicity, and modeling, as well as spouses-of-wealthy-males. Georgia doesn't particularly like them, but she learns the rules of client-colorist engagement, and she emerges as a likeable, funny, and highly observant lens on the New York/Hamptons social scene. The book relied too much on cliches and some predictable narrative turns: Georgia falls in love with the suave, not gay (as she thought) Italian stylist Massimo; when seemingly crushed by the city she remembers the pithy, homespun sayings of her (sainted) Mom; she develops strong feelings for another Weekeepeemie student(Patrick, who IS gay), and, improbably, they're both hired by the stereotypically imperious and emotional Frenchman, Jean-Luc. Georgia's test of character occurs when the wildly successful Jean Luc plays them, promising she, Patrick, and Massimo their own Jean-Luc franchises, and then reneging bigtime on his offer. Georgia goes on so long about her doubts of starting a new salon with Massimo and Patrick--eventually abandoning them, that the reader just wishes that Flynn-Hui would cut to the inevitable reconciliation. The narrative's delirious, made-for-TV "surprise" is both disappointing and satisfying, as Flynn-Hui successfully leads us to differentiate between the good, hard-working, usually ethical Georgia and friends, and the self-absorbed, sometimes cruel personalities of clients and Jean-Luc himself. Overall, however, it's a smart and funny take on the habituees of Manhattan, constantly pursueing the trendy, and only rarely showing us some core of integrity. More than chick lit., I'd categorize this as great confection-filled summer reading. It's not too demanding, but it doesn't insult your intelligence either. The author, like Georgia, is a colorist at a top New York salon, lending veracity to the incredibly self-indulgent women seeking physical perfection.

Delightful!

Reviewed by Nancy Young for Reader Views (8/06) In "Beyond The Blonde", author Kathleen Flynn-Hui gives the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the "world of beauty". The best to come along since The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada, "Beyond the Blonde", points out how ugly the supposed world of beauty can really be. The heroine, Georgia Watkins, is a small town girl who grew up in her mother's beauty shop, without a father around and a little sister. The beauty shop manages to feed her family, but that is all. She moves to the big city after graduating from beauty school, but she refuses to forget where she came from. Growing up in a single parent home, Georgia knows what it is like to barely get by and she is determined not to fail. Her biggest struggle is overcoming her own fears and going for what she really wants in life. A brief glance at the novel might think it is only a shallow glance of the rich and famous, but "Beyond the Blonde" has much more substance than that. The first couple of pages will encourage the reader to find a comfy reading spot, because she or he will not want to put the book down. While Georgia's challenges are real, her clients can be just plain ridiculous- from the clients who bring in the children to match their hair color to the client who needs her hand held while a small strand of her hair is highlighted. Some clients will bring laughter to the reader, while some will just disgust or annoy. The jealousy, competition and back stabbing are not to surprising to find in a salon, but it is all fascinating just the same. Georgia has to learn many hard lessons as the big city salon is very different than the small town beauty parlor she grew up with. The author even points out how the names are different. Most small town beauty salons have catchy names, such as "Mane Event" and the like; names you wouldn't find in a city such as New York. Anyone familiar with small towns will be able to support that fact. "Beyond The Blonde" is purely delightful, a book to give to all your friends, and even your hairstylist. You can't help but not fall in love with Georgia- the small town girl who makes it big but still has a big heart- and you will find yourself cheering Georgia on and hoping for the best.

very addicting!

Like some other reviewers, this is the first chick-lit novel I've read that involves a stylist. Although I am not one myself, I love the salon atmosphere, and I knew this novel would tell it like it is...after all, it is written by a colorist! Long story short...this book was great. Although it's a typical "small town girl lives out dream and becomes big city girl" plot, the easy-read writing style, addicting events, and characters you want to be your friends (and have do your hair!) will keep you into this book until the last page. I highly recommend this one to anyone who's looking for a cute, fluffy story to get lost in for a little while!

An Amazingly Good Working-Girl/Glamour Lit Read!

There's nothing like a refreshingly unique "Working Girl Lit" book where the character has a job other than in the publishing or movie industry. In Beyond the "Blonde" by Kathleen Flynn-Hui, our main character Georgia has the job of a stylist. Georgia grew up in a tiny town in New Hamsphire, working with her mother in the town's beauty salon. Georgia always knew she'd move on at some point. After attending school at Wilfred Academy, she gets hired at Jean-Luc, a famous Fifth Avenue New York City salon. Starting from the bottom she manages to work her way up, make new friends, and enjoy her new and exciting life. She even manages to fall in love with a coworker, the handsome Massimo. But as always, good things change or come to an end; when the salon is bought out by another company, Georgia, Massimo and their friend know that it's time to take a huge chance: they want to open their own salon. But Jean-Luc has been known in the past to completely destroy the competition, or anyone who goes against him. Georgia must choose between love, her job, and her future. Will she make the right decision? I absolutely loved this book. It is one of those books that have glamourous settings and characters, but manages to stay down-to-earth. Georgia was an amazing main character. She was at times uncertain, but mainly strong. The story had a lot of details about the goings-on at a famous salon, which was fascinating. The writing was absorbing and kept me engrossed. I couldn't find anything about this book that I didn't like, even given the slight "fairy-tale" plot, probably because the character had to work hard and nothing was given to her on a platter. I highly recommend this great novel and am confident that others will love it too- especially those who enjoy both glamour and books that revolve around a character's career. Don't miss this one!

A + chicklit

I really loved the story. I haven't ever read a chick lit book where the main character, Georgia, is a hair stylist/colorist. It was a nice change of pace from the usual 'I'm a lawyer/editor/waitress/PR person'. I liked that the main focus of Georgia was just trying to live out her dream to become a hair stylist no matter what her mom thought about it. I liked that the main focus wasn't finding love like many other chick lit books I've read. The book takes us from a prologue chapter of the present then starts us out at the beginning, meaning when she decides 'this is what I want with my life'. There was some humor too. I laughed out loud a few times. All in all a great first novel. I'm really looking forward to another book by this author.