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“A woman’s most powerful possession is a man’s imagination.”—Maybelline Ad, 1934
ABOUT THE BOOK
In 1915, when a kitchen stove fire singed his sister Mabel’s lashes and brows, Tom Lyle Williams watched in fascination as she performed a “secret of the harem”—mixing petroleum jelly with coal dust and ash from a burnt cork and apply it to her lashes and brows. Mabel’s simple beauty trick ignited Tom Lyle’s imagination and he started what would become a billion-dollar business, one that remains a viable American icon after nearly a century. He named it Maybelline in her honor.
Throughout the 20th century, the Maybelline Company inflated, collapsed, endured, and thrived in tandem with the nation’s upheavals—as did the family that nurtured it. Setting up shop first in Chicago, Williams later, to avoid unwanted scrutiny of his private life, cloistered himself behind the gates of his Rudolph Valentino Villa and ran his empire from a distance. Now after nearly a century of silence, this true story celebrates the life of an American entrepreneur, a man whose vision rocketed him to success along with the woman held in his orbit, Evelyn Boecher—who became his lifelong fascination and muse.
Captivated by her “roaring charisma,” he affectionately called her the “real Miss Maybelline” and based many of his advertising campaigns on the woman she represented: commandingly beautiful, hard-boiled and daring. Evelyn masterminded a life of vanity, but would fall prey to fortune hunters and a mysterious murder that even today remains unsolved. A fascinating and inspiring story of ambition, luck, secrecy—and surprisingly, above all, love and forgiveness, a tale both epic and intimate, alive with the clash, the hustle, the music, and dance of American enterprise.
REVIEWS
We loved this book! —NYLON MAGAZINE
A richly told story of a forty-year, white-hot love triangle that fans the flames of a major worldwide conglomerate. —Neil Shulman, Writer / Producer, Doc Hollywood
This book is classic literary satisfaction, a real page-turner. —Nina Siemaszko, actress, The West Wing
We are especially fascinated to slip vicariously into the lives of the rich and privileged yet cheer for the underdog who overcomes obstacles to astound doubters with his success. We are enthralled with the historical sweep of events whose repercussions live on to the present, all elements of this amazing story—which reads like a juicy novel but is a family memoir distilled from nine hundred pages of family accounts from the 1920’s to present. —Steven Hudis, producer, IMPACT Motion Pictures
A highly entertaining and salacious story about the rich and privileged who against all odds build an empire. If you are a fan of scandal and glamour starting at the turn of the 20th century all the way to the present, you'll love this book.—Los Angeles Review News
Engrossing! —New York Post
There are certain stories, so dramatic, so sordid, that they seem positively destined for film; this is one of them. A new, thoroughly engrossing tome. —Style.com
Splendid!—Harper's Bazaar En Espanol
MASTERFUL storytelling. Love and tenderness are palpable in a sensitive recount of this amazing historical memoir.—Diane Bruno, CISION Media
Superb! An exciting tale that gives an insider’s view into the genesis of a corporate giant. A wild ride, an enticing saga. —Alan Andrews Ragland, son of Maybelline legend “Rags” Ragland
This book has tremendous value even beyond its capacity to glimpse into history and its sheer joy to entertain. —Kolie Crutcher III, CEO and publisher, Get Money magazine
Tom Lyle, my great-uncle—and the godfather of our family—made us all rich, in more ways than one! But it is hard for us to separate Maybelline from our family, because it was a family affair, literally. This is a story I lived and a family I love.—William Preston Williams III
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sharrie Williams is heir to the Maybelline legacy and family steward of the vast documentation that traces Maybelline's history. Sharrie is Tom Lyle Williams’s grandniece and Evelyn Boecher Williams’s granddaughter. As a member of this intriguing family, Sharrie is in a unique position to provide intimate and never-before-told details about the fascinating people behind the founding of Maybelline. |
