{"product_id":"bessie-9781647425951","title":"Bessie","description":"Just days after the close of World War II, Bess Myerson, the daughter of poor Russian Jewish immigrants living in the Bronx, is competing in the Miss America pageant. At stake: a $5,000 scholarship. The tension and excitement in Atlantic City's Warner Theatre are palpable, especially for traumatized Jews rooting for one of their own. So begins \u003ci\u003eBessie.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on biographical and historical sources, \u003ci\u003eBessie\u003c\/i\u003e reimagines the early life of Bess Myerson, who, in 1945 at age twenty-one, remarkably rises to become one of the most famous women in America. This intimate fictional portrait reveals the transformation of the nearly six-foot-tall, self-deprecating yet talented preteen into an exemplar of beauty, a peripheral quality in her world, where success is measured by intellectual attainment. Yet it is the focus on her beauty, and the secular world of pageantry, that she must choose to escape her roots and fulfill her fierce desire to achieve and become someone for whom great things happen. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBessie\u003c\/i\u003e is a tender study of a bold young woman living at a precarious moment in our cultural history as she searches for love and acceptance, eager to make her mark on the world. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e She Writes Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/12\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781647425951\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 232\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/10\/2023\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Linda Kass","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43049658712245,"sku":"9781647425951","price":23.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_0acd6fef-e4f2-4d49-8d2a-a0e8d878a699.jpg?v=1689692391","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/bessie-9781647425951","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}