The Night She Won Miss America

by Michael Callahan

Overview

From the author of Searching For Grace Kelly, a 1950 lovestruck beauty queen finds herself in dangerous company—and on the run.

Betty Jane Welch reluctantly enters the Miss Delaware contest only to make her mother happy, but to her surprise, she’s the judges’ top choice. Just like that, she’s catapulted into the big time: the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. 

Luckily, her pageant-approved escort for the week is the dashing but mercurial Griffin McAllister, and she falls for him hard. But when the spirited Betty unexpectedly wins the crown and sash, she finds she may lose what she wants most: Griff’s love. To stay together, she impulsively agrees to run away with him. And then the chase is on: from the shadowy streets of Manhattan to a cliffside mansion in Newport, as the cops, a cunning socialite, and a scrappy young reporter secretly in love with the beauty queen threaten to unravel everything—and expose Griff’s darkest secret. 

“Inspired by a true story, The Night She Won Miss America is part love story, part true-crime saga, written with spirit and panache.”—Vanity Fair

 “Expect glamour, grit, and some truly unpredictable twists and turns.”—Town & Country

 “A cinematic tale in the tradition of a Douglas Sirk movie, and the perfect book to pack away in your beach bag.”—Adweek

 “Delightful…Serves up breathless romance and a heart-pounding plot.”—People 

 “A heady whirl of gowns, gloves, chaperones, lipstick, escorts, cocktails, and romance. This engaging tale paints an evocative picture of a bygone era and the post-war ideal of young American womanhood.”—Helen Bryan, author of the international bestseller War Brides

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544810013
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/18/2017
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	145,844
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

MICHAEL CALLAHAN is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of the novel Searching for Grace Kelly. A former deputy editor at Town & Country and Marie Claire, he has written for more than two dozen national and international publications, including ELLE, Departures, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Hollywood Reporter, and the New York Times. He lives in Philadelphia.   

Editorial Reviews

Romance, intrigue, suspense—Michael Callahan’s latest has it all, and that’s not even counting the glorious, heady world of the Miss America pageant in its heyday.  Loosely inspired by real events, The Night She Won Miss America grabs you from the first chapter and takes you on a wild journey beginning in Atlantic City and ending in a showdown on a rocky cliff worthy of Hitchcock.  But the heart of the book always remains its remarkable protagonist, a naïve young woman whose passions come to the surface with remarkable ferocity the moment the crown is placed on her head and never really let her—or us—go.”—Melanie Benjamin, New York Times best-selling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue

“I can’t remember the last time I got so caught up in a novel. Michael Callahan’s gorgeous prose brings to life an intoxicating world of beauty queens and thwarted dreams that will sweep you away in a whirlwind of intrigue, passion, and secrets.”—Matthew Pearl, best-selling author of The Dante Club and The Last Bookaneer

“A heady whirl of gowns, gloves, chaperones, lipstick, escorts, cocktails, and romance. This engaging tale paints an evocative picture of a bygone era and the post-war ideal of young American womanhood."—Helen Bryan, author of the international bestseller War Brides

From the Publisher

03/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—In 1950, Betty Jane Welch reluctantly joins the Miss Delaware contest to appease her mother. When she wins, she is sent to Atlantic City for the Miss America competition. Once she arrives, she is paired with a dreamy pageant-approved escort, Griffin McAllister, and makes a new friend in the competition, Miss Rhode Island, Ciji. For the first time in her life, Betty starts breaking the rules, going out, drinking, gambling, and having fun. As a girl who lives to please everyone else, she begins, finally, to please herself. To her surprise, Betty wins the title of Miss America, and while she is initially caught up in the glitz and glamour of the competition, it all suddenly becomes too much, and she vanishes with Griffin the night of the final ceremony. At first, being on the run is romantic, but there is something off about Griff. This plot-driven story blends aspects of romance, mystery, and thriller. Readers will find authentic language for the time period, and although the book is historical fiction, teens will easily relate to the universal themes and issues. An appended author's note introduces the true 1937 Miss America story about Bette Cooper, on which the novel is based. VERDICT Fans of mid-century drama, beauty queens, and gripping romance will enjoy this adventurous read.—Morgan O'Reilly, Riverdale Country School, NY

School Library Journal

2017-02-02
A young woman feels the heavy burden of a coveted crown.Betty Jane Welch had no desire to compete in the Miss America pageant. But after accepting her mother's bribe of her absolute favorite lemon cake, she felt she was at least obligated to participate in 1949's Miss Delaware scholarship pageant. Though everyone around Betty sees her potential, she is unable to even fathom the possibility of making it past the first round of the competition. As her beauty, talent at the harp, and sharp wit move her swiftly up the ranks, it's what happens behind the scenes at the pageant that offers the most surprises. Upon meeting her escort, John Griffin "Griff" McAllister, Betty is equally charmed and confounded by the strikingly handsome young man. His temperament flip-flops throughout their first encounter, with him appearing bored and then thoroughly smitten often in the same breath. Griff whisks her away from the strict rules of the pageant system, and while Betty does notice some quirks in his character—those rapid mood swings, his incessant mumbling—she brushes them aside as nothing. When Betty wins the title, Griff pulls away from her, citing the stress of being known as Miss America's boyfriend. Overcome by the pressure of the tiara, Betty turns to Griff and is willing to give it all up to be with him. What results is the wild tale of a disgraced pageant winner and a story that reporter Bronwyn McCall is anxious to uncover more than 60 years later. Early in her pageant experience, Betty muses that "Miss America does odd things to people." Clearly, she had no idea. Callahan (Searching for Grace Kelly, 2015) creates a story that is brisk-paced and fluid. Characters like Betty's roommate Ciji and reporter Eddie Tate add depth and emotion to the story. Though Callahan's heroine achieved what many could only dream of, she lacked the capacity to define her own life as a 19-year-old. Luckily, the novel offers her time.

Kirkus Reviews