Becky Lynn is unloved, hurt and abused, but she has dreams and flees to a place where she might fulfill them, whilst Jack Gallagher wants to leave behind painful memories of his childhood and make a name for himself. They find their way to the top of the fashion industry together, but past secrets lurk to threaten all they have achieved.
Red
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
With protagonists more pained than passionate, Spindler's narrative (Heaven Sent, A Winter's Rose) spins a Cinderella story of Becky Lynn Lee, who rises from the "wrong side of the tracks" in Mississippi to the pinnacle of Los Angeles's modeling world. Fascinated by fashion and desperate to leave her family's abusive, alcoholic home, 17-year-old Becky Lynn is thrilled when L.A. photographer Jack Gallagher hires her to be his assistant. Jack soon finds Becky Lynn both professionally indispensable and personally irresistible. But Jack is driven by a need to best his father, a famous Italian fashion photographer who has refused to acknowledge him, and succumbs to the lure of designer Garnet McCall. Shattered, Becky Lynn accepts an offer from Jack's hated half-brother, photographer Carlo Triani, to transform her into a star model. Reinvented as Valentine, Becky Lynn reaches the apex of model stardom but continues to be plagued by the psychological aftermath of abuse as she comes to care for Carlo, who is wrestling his own dark demons. While characters are sketched with depth and complexity, Spindler's workmanlike precision lacks the lusciousness readers will expect.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Bend, Mississippi 1984
No place in the world smelled quite like the Mississippi Delta in July. Overripe, like fruit left too long in the sun. Pungent, like a drunk's breath at the edge of a whiskey binge. Like sweat.
And it smelled of dirt. Sometimes so dry it coated the mouth and throat, but most times so wet it permeated everything, even the skin. Becky Lynn Lee lifted her hair off the back of her neck, sticky with a combination of perspiration and dust from the unpaved road. Most folks around Bend didn't think much about the smell of things, but she did. She fantasized about a place scented of exotic flowers and rare perfumes, a beautiful world populated by people wearing fine, silky fabrics and welcoming smiles.
She knew that place existed; she'd seen it in the magazines she poured over whenever she could, the ones the women at Opal's snickered at her interest in, the ones her father raged at her about.
None of that mattered. She had promised herself that someday, somehow, she would live in that world.
Becky Lynn picked her way across the railroad tracks used not only to ship rice, cotton and soybeans out of Bend, but to divide the good side of town from the bad, the respectable folk from the poor white trash.
She was poor white trash. The label had hurt, way back the first time she'd heard herself referred to by those words; it still hurt, when she thought about it. And she thought about it a lot. That's the kind of town Bend was.
Becky Lynn lifted her face to the flat blue sky, squinting against the harsh light, wishing for cloud cover to temper the heat. Poor white trash. Becky Lynn had been three the first time she'd realized she was different, that she and her family were less than; she still remembered the moment vividly. It had been a day like this one, hot and blue. She'd been standing in line at the market with her mother and her brother, Randy. Becky Lynn remembered clinging to her brother's hand and looking down at her feet, bare and dirty from their walk into town, then lifting her gaze to find the other mothers' eyes upon them, their stares filled with a combination of pity and loathing. In that moment, she'd realized that there were others in the world and that they judged. She had felt strange, self-conscious. For the first time inher young life, she'd felt vulnerable. She had wanted to hide behind her mother's legs, had wanted her mother to tell the other women to stop looking at them that way.
Becky Lynn supposed that had been back before her daddy had turned really mean, back when she still thought her mother to be an angel with magical, protective powers.
But maybe she had already realized that her mother wasn't an angel, that her mother didn't have the ability— or the strength—to make everything all right, because she hadn't said anything. And the women had kept staring, and Becky Lynn had kept on feeling as if she had done something wrong, something ugly and bad.
Most times now, the respectable folks, even the customers she shampooed down at Opal's Cut 'n Curl, looked right through her. Oh, while she shampooed them they talked to her, but mostly because they liked to hear the sound of themselves and because they knew she was paid to listen and agree with them—something their husbands almost never did. But when they came face-to-face with her on the street, they looked right through her. She wasn't sure if they pretended they didn't see her because she was one of Randall Lee's brood or if they truly didn't recognize her 'cause they'd never really looked at her in the first place.
But whichever, she'd decided being invisible suited her just fine. In fact, she preferred it that way. She felt less different when she was invisible. She felt… safer.
Becky Lynn took a deep breath as she cleared the railroad tracks. The air always seemed a bit sweeter this side of the tracks, the breeze a degree or two cooler. She stepped up her pace, hoping to get to the shop early enough to spend a few minutes looking over the Bazaar that had come the day before. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast-paced, Spindler strikes straight to your heart.,
By GinRobi (Timmins, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Red (Mass Market Paperback)
**Spoiler Alert: Do Not Read Beyond This Point If You Don't Want To Know**Growing up on the "wrong side of the tracks" and labeled as "white trash," Becky Lynn can only look at the pictures in fashion magazines and dream - not only of the people in the pictures, but the pictures, the photography itself. She works for Ms. Opal at the Cut & Curl, sweeping and shampooing customers. Her abusive father takes most of her paychecks, her mother too broken to defend herself or her children against his abuse, a brother who's the football star at school, Becky Lynn feels completely alone in her little world. After an attempted rape, Becky Lynn is confronted by Ms. Opal, who believed Becky Lynn to be sleeping around until she realized the fear was real. When she pressed Becky Lynn to tell the authorities or the boys' parents, Becky Lynn begs her not to. They would just jump to conclusions, much as Ms. Opal had at first, for Becky Lynn was nothing but "white trash." Ms. Opal drove Becky Lynn to and from work every day, and Becky Lynn became a prisoner in her home, the fear of Ricky and Tommy so strong she never went anywhere but work, school and home. A few months go by and Becky Lynn starts to relax. One night, Ms. Opal leaves early for a pep rally and one of the girls promises to give Becky Lynn a ride home. But after Ms. Opal leaves, Becky Lynn waves away the offer of the ride, for she knew Tommy and Ricky would be at the pep rally. She was dead wrong. They waited for her on her route home, and that's when it happened. At the same time, she learns of the ultimate betrayal, for Ms. Opal had broken her promise and had gone to the boys' parents. When she finally makes it home, her father calls her a [........] and that she better not get pregnant. Her brother looks at her guiltily; he knew what was happening, what happened, and didn't stop it. Her mother simply says to go to bed, everything would be better in the morning. That was the final straw: Becky Lynn is gone. That night, she takes her meager savings out from under the loose floorboard in her room and takes off for Hollywood. Jack Gallagher, eight-years-old, has already been all over the world. His mother, Sallie Gallagher, is a make-up artist for fashion shoots, and Jack's seen it all. After learning his father is the top photographer, the amazing and incredible Giovanni, Jack confronts him, only to find out that Giovanni and Sallie have an "arrangement," and that Giovanni has only one son, Carlo. At that moment, Jack makes a promise to himself: One day, he'll be a better photographer than Giovanni, even if he has to do it alone. Becky Lynn makes it to Hollywood, and just when desperation sets in, Becky Lynn meets Sallie, who gives her a job in her salon. Becky Lynn meets Jack, and Jack is curious about the girl, for she refuses to be alone in the room with him or any male, but she has a determined mind, and quickly learns that Becky Lynn has a natual talent for photography. He offers her a job as his assistant, and Becky Lynn is eager to learn. What she didn't count on was falling in love with Jack. But Jack refuses to give his heart, for his heart is cold with his own determination to beat Giovanni and his son, Carlo. **I worried at first. At the beginning of the book, Ms. Spindler admits that "Red" might surprise us, the readers, for it doesn't hold her trademark suspense/thriller and high body count, but she does promise her hallmark drama, fast-paced plot with complex relationships and an emotional edge. I soon learned that I had nothing to worry about. She wasn't kidding. Lots of drama - I was an emotional reck in the first half of the book! Ms. Spindler aims right at the reader's heart and you cry just as much in sadness and bitterness as in anger. Immediately you feel for Becky Lynn, and you end up wondering how she'd ever trust men again. Becky Lynn, everything that happens to her so early in life, grows to be one of the strongest, most determined characters I've ever read. Determined to put the past behind her and move forward, she's taking baby steps, but she gets there, even when her heart gets broken, she trudges on. And even with all of the backstabbing, she still remains a kind person, reading to help at a moments notice, without hesitation. Jack... What can I say about Jack. In many ways, he became his father, until the realization breaks through when he hurts Becky Lynn in the only way that matters. His determination to be better than his father, than his half-brother, filled his heart with anger and bitterness, and it's a shame, for Giovanni pitted Jack and Carlo against each other. Deep down, I believe that Jack and Carlo could have really cared about each other, could have become great friends. Giovanni, a man you will hate right to your core. I hate saying that, as I'm Italian, but that man gives Italians a bad name. But Jack does get Becky Lynn back. Randy, her brother, finally stands in her corner, and when her father figures out where she is and tries to destroy her by making accusations, Becky Lynn fights back. An emotional roller-coaster. I highly recommend this book. I'll bet you you'll feel the same way about this book as I did. I guaranty you won't regret it.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quick, fun and delicious read!!,
By lusty22 "avid reader" (VT United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Red (Paperback)
This is one of those books that catches you from the very first page and never lets go! It's an easy read and such fun!! I fell in love with "Red" more than any of the other Erica Spindler characters. She is a kind and innocent child who you get to see grow into a beautiful woman and you can't help but root for her. I could'nt put the book down because I had to see her prevail over all her enemies. I have read almost all of Erica Spindler's books but this is my absolute favorite by far! You get so involved in her life that you just can't stop reading. I usually prefer mystery and suspense but this is a swell book. It will keep you interested until the end!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An exciting, fast paced novel that will capture your heart,
By Prncss737@aol.com (Groton, CT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Red (Paperback)
Erika Spindler has done it again! This is the fourth book I have read of Ms. Spindler's, and I enjoyed it just as much as the others. Her characters will make you feel as though you are right along with them - experiencing the same things they experience. I highly recommend this book. It provokes emotions in a person that not many books can. Red is a story of passion and compassion for other human beings. It will make you cry and cheer. I read this book in two days! Definitley for anyone who wishes for something they think they can never have. The ultimate story of triumph!!!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
