Climbing in Heels, Elaine GoldsmithThomas
Climbing in Heels, Elaine GoldsmithThomas
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Climbing in Heels
A Novel

Author: Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas

Narrator: Stephanie Németh-Parker

Unabridged: 13 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/29/2025


Synopsis

Climbing in Heels, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas's debut novel, is a fictional tale of the rise of three secretaries at the hottest agency in 1980's Hollywood, giving you a glimpse into the boys-will-be-boys club and the women who wanted a seat at a table where they were expected to serve. Elaine was a top agent at the William Morris Agency (WMA) in the late 1980s and at ICM (International Creative Management) in the 1990s. She represented many A-list actors, including Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, and Madonna.

It's the story of friendship, betrayal, survival, standing up when they pass you by, and saying I won't go when they want you gone. And it's also a story about how some of those women became very much like the monsters who trained them.

Meet Beanie Rosen, the fast-talking and even faster-thinking Valley girl who knows where she wants to go, and doesn’t care if she doesn’t look the part.

Mercedes Baxter, who learned early on how to leverage the monied friends of her monied friends' parents until she found a foothold in Hollywood.

And Ella Gaddy, a sexy free-spirit anti-debutante from a white-glove Kentucky home who shakes up any room she walks into.

Read Climbing in Heels and watch these women meet, meld, fight, strategize and climb their way into your heart.

A rollicking tale of sex, drugs, and power – in heels.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

About Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas

ELAINE GOLDSMITH THOMAS began her career at the William Morris Agency and rose by the late 1980’s to become the Senior Vice President of the WMA, and later the Senior Vice President of ICM, guiding the careers of, among others, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Nicholas Cage, and Madonna. More recently, she has produced a broad, successful slate of films and television series including Maid in Manhattan, Mona Lisa Smile, Hustlers, Marry Me, Emily in Paris, The Fosters and many others.

About Stephanie Németh-Parker

Stephanie Németh‑Parker is an actor, voiceover artist and an award‑winning audiobook narrator who’s recorded over 400 audiobooks. A second‑generation Cuban‑American raised in Florida, Georgia, and Texas, she brings remarkable accent versatility—conversationally fluent in German with basic knowledge of Spanish and expertly shifting among Southern (Texas and Georgia), New York, RP British, Irish, Scottish, French, German, Mexican, Russian, South American, Hungarian accents and more.Her narration spans a wide spectrum of genres—romance, thriller, historical fiction, sci‑fi/fantasy, LitRPG, horror, LGBTQ+, mystery/suspense, and biography. Stephanie’s work has earned her three Audie Award nominations, five prestigious SOVAS Awards, and an AudioFile Earphones Award.Her theater and on‑screen experience gives her narration depth, warmth, and range. Stephanie’s unique skill set—expert accents, emotional nuance, and genre flexibility—continues to captivate listeners and elevate stories across the audio landscape.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Louise on May 08, 2025

(2.25 stars) I was really looking forward to Climbing In Heels because one of my sons worked for a Hollywood talent agency for a while. This story was supposed to focus on three women who climbed their way up in such an agency in the 1980s when it was still very much a “boys’ club.” The book seems to......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on June 18, 2025

Climbing in Heels by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas had the premise that was so great in theory: pre- Weinstein, where men could slap a woman in the behind at work and it would be acceptable. Women in Hollywood would be taken advantage of (still happens!) thinking that they would be promoted in the ranking......more

Goodreads review by Angie on May 06, 2025

I was going to like this. The characters were great but the sexual content was so weird and cringy. The point of the book is that it is pre me-too and women are seen primarily as sexual beings to be used but that content was just awkward. I feel like this could have been better. I really did like th......more

Goodreads review by Bernadette on May 28, 2025

"Climbing in Heels" by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas is a dazzling gem of a book that sparkles with wit, humor, and energy from start to finish. Goldsmith-Thomas' electrifying prose immediately draws readers into a world of luxury, glamour, and indulgence that's impossible to resist. The characters are the......more

Goodreads review by Elaine on April 27, 2025

Sorry to say this was a DNF for me at 84%. Although the premise sounded really good, I just couldn’t listen to it anymore. Started out strong with a few women who went against the grain and really wanted to make something of themselves, even back in the 80’s when it was really all just a men’s/big boy......more


Quotes

"The heart of the book is gossip: agent politics and dirty dealings, actor name-drops, affairs left and right, power and the power-hungry. [And main character] Beanie is smart, tenacious, and fun to watch...Juicy." - Kirkus

“Sexy, sharp, and unapologetically bold, CLIMBING IN HEELS plunges you into the glamour and grit of Hollywood in the 1980s. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas delivers an entertaining debut, pulling readers into the messy, electric lives of three women who refuse to be sidelined.” —ALISSA DeROGATIS, AUTHOR OF CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT

“If you love Hollywood stories—from Valley of the Dolls to What Makes Sammy Run?, to The Player—get this book now. Get it, read it, share it, gift it. You won’t be able to put this delicious book down. So, grab a cup of coffee and curl up with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas’s CLIMBING IN HEELS. You’ll be really glad you did.” —AMY FERRIS, AUTHOR OF MARRYING GEORGE CLOONEY

“CLIMBING IN HEELS is a smart, dishy, juicy, inside-Hollywood novel by one of the industry’s ultimate insiders. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas has created an unforgettable, scrappy, and whip-smart outsider in the young and ambitious Beanie Rosen, who breaks into the legendary Sylvan Light Agency and rises to the top. It’s a sharply observed, brilliantly plotted, and bighearted page-turner!” —LAURA ZIGMAN, AUTHOR OF SEPARATION ANXIETY
AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

“CLIMBING IN HEELS is a wildly entertaining journey of three women who have to navigate the sex, drugs, and boys’ club mentality of 1980s Hollywood, written by someone who was there. It’s moving, insightful, and shows us how far we’ve come—and how far we need to go. It’s a book you won’t put down, with characters you won’t forget. I loved it!” —DARREN STAR, CREATOR OF SEX AND THE CITY AND EMILY IN PARIS

“The perfect book for this moment. A wildly entertaining, fully transportive master-class in how powerful women write (and rewrite) their own Cinderella stories. The fact that it’s set in the hottest era of Hollywood is icing on top.” —JESSIE ROSEN, AUTHOR OF THE HEIRLOOM

“CLIMBING IN HEELS is a smart, sexy, entertaining debut novel about three women who try to forge their own paths in 1980s Hollywood—a subject Elaine lived and breathed in real time, coming up in the golden age of the power agent. You will cheer for these women, fear for these women, and be seduced into loving them. I couldn’t put it down!”
—JENNIFER LOPEZ