
Let’s Call Her Barbie is a historical fiction story about the pop culture toy Barbie – and the sometimes scandalous lives of those involved in her creation. From her flat-chested beginnings to the fight to make Barbie a feminist fashion icon, this behind-the-scenes novel tells the tale of how the most famous doll in the world made it to retail.
Set in late 1950s Los Angeles, when smoking and sexual harassment in the workplace were standard, Renée Rosen’s descriptive writing and attention to detail immediately cries out to be adapted into a Mad Men-style limited series. She brings to life the personalities of Ruth Handler – feisty, no-nonsense co-founder of toy company Mattel – and troubled creative genius Jack Ryan, who had previously worked for Raytheon as a missile designer and was the sixth husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Handler, conversely, has started out as a secretary in Hollywood’s Paramount Studios, where she met Elliott Handler, her future husband and business partner. Let’s Call Her Barbie starts as Ruth comes back from a trip to Europe, with a German Bild Lilli doll in her hand. She has the germ of an idea: to create a similar fashion doll for girls, moving away from the baby doll model. She just needs to convince everyone else around her.
Rosen’s attempts to build personal relationships and sexual tension fall flat at times, though. The fluff fiction weighs heavy on pre-existing (and frankly more intriguing) matters of fact, making the read a little slow. Of course, we know that Barbie will make it to the shelves – but as the story moves on, you find yourself itching to know just how the stars aligned and a cultural icon was born.
Let’s Call Her Barbie, Renée Rosen (Berkley)
Price: £14.99. Info: here
words CHARLOTTE LITTLE