Spinsters

by Louise Claire Johnson, Krista Webster

Mad Men meets Sex and the City in a stigma-shattering novel written by industry insiders and inspired by the real female trailblazers who shaped modern PR from the 1960s through the 1980s, as three women responsible for spinning stories that captured the zeitgeist of an era defy convention and combat sexism, racism, and ageism in a patriarchal world.

A glamorous, provocative romp through 1960s-80s Manhattan for readers of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Renée Rosen, Bonnie Garmus, and Rona Jaffe’s The Best of Everything .

New York City, 1960: While the ad men of Madison Avenue chase power in plain sight, a block away at Powell Public Relations, Rose Parker, secretary to a CEO, has aspirations beyond scheduling meetings and making sure her boss’s coffee is exactly as he likes it. When a career-making scoop lands in her lap, Rose seizes the chance to wage a campaign of her own. With Loretta “Lottie” Adams and Ines Kittredge—sharp recruits plucked from the secretarial pool—she sees that crack and begins to force it wider.

In a business built on shaping the cultural narrative, Rose, Lottie, and Ines understand how the right story can make a reputation or destroy one, and how it can always be rewritten, including their own. If the world insists on “spinster,” they reclaim it; choosing a career in spin and turning a label meant to diminish into a mark of defiance.

One campaign at a time, they build a PR empire that pulls them into the orbit of power, money, and secrets best kept hidden. Lottie is swept into a dangerous affair with John F. Kennedy, while Ines confronts systemic barriers threatening to stop her rise. Soon, each woman must decide what she’s willing to risk to stay in control. Along the way, they find allies in unexpected Matilda, Rose’s college friend turned Elizabeth Taylor’s publicist, and trailblazers like Helen Gurley Brown and Gloria Steinem.

Spanning the Swinging 60s through the bold 80s, Spinsters is a revelatory story of women who refused the lives assigned to them and instead influenced society from the margins. Because sometimes, the most powerful force in the room . . . is the one no one sees coming.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 29, 2027

Reviews

[Charlene Carr]

From the first memorable line, SPINSTERS combines ballsy, in-your-face writing with moments of quiet reflection. The women of these pages demand to be taken seriously and won't let anything get in the way of their dreams. Arriving at a moment in our history when so much of what women have fought for is in danger of being erased, Johnson and Webster honour the trailblazers who refused to give in to society’s expectations, crafting a novel that insists this is not a time for complacency, but a time for boldness.

(I received an Advance Copy from Kensington Publishing Corp.)

[Louise Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full bias, but I hope you like reading it as much as I loved writing it!

[Abby Greaves · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

This is an empowering and engrossing novel about women who reject the prescribed “traditional” path of life in pursuit of personal fulfillment and equality.

A powerful and engrossing novel about resilience and ambition, and the determination to stand up for women’s rights at a time when choosing themselves over marriage and babies was frowned upon.

Rose Parker is the secretary to the CEO of a big wig PR firm (think Mad Men.) One day, she finds out that a tampon company is looking for a new agency, and she wants to pitch it. Basically, the men all scoff at her. A woman? Leading a pitch/an account? Well, she decides to prove those men wrong.

The story spans 27 years of the struggles of women trying to be equal. We start off the story when single women were unable to rent an apartment by themselves, when they were expected to be married with kids by 27, where they “aged out” if they were still single at that time. Rose Parker was taking none of this. She is going to show the men what she and two other women will do to make a change in this world.

This is the feminist story I love to read. I am fortunate to come after all of these women who paved the way, but we still have a ways to go. I read this right after the 2026 Winter Olympics. The USA Women’s Hockey team won gold and they were scoffed at and made fun of. This story fueled my rage and will continue to fuel my rage for the rights of women.