Ella Berman is back with another story of women’s journeys to success.
L.A. Women, out Aug. 5, 2025 from Berkley, follows two writers who are doing everything they can to further their careers in 1960s Hollywood. The women are “frenemies,” and one commits “the ultimate artistic betrayal: one writes a book based on the other’s life,” according to an official synopsis.
The tale, spun against the backdrop of Laurel Canyon, loosely draws inspiration from Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, as well as trailblazing women Joni Mitchell, Nora Ephron and Pamela Des Barres.
“Berman’s latest is a compelling look at what it meant to be a female artist in the 1960s and the ways women used and subverted feminism to get ahead,” the publisher teases.
Themes of female success and solidarity — and lack thereof — are common threads between Berman’s books.
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Berkley
Her first novel The Comeback, published in 2020, explores the rise and rebounding of a Hollywood actress as she disappears just before her first Golden Globe nomination — and resurfaces one year later to reclaim her life and find her voice.
Jenna Bush Hager chose The Comeback as one of her book club Read with Jenna‘s picks in 2020.
Berman’s most recent novel, Before We Were Innocent (2023), focuses on two women’s drastically different responses to the death of a friend while the three were on summer vacation. When one of them finds herself wrapped up in a similar sticky situation back in L.A., they both must confront the original tragedy — what it did to them and what it revealed about themselves.
Before We Were Innocent landed a spot in Reese’s Book Club, run by Reese Witherspoon, in 2023.
Raised in both London and Los Angeles, Berman worked at Sony Music and later started her clothing brand, London Loves L.A.
L.A. Women comes out Aug. 5, 2025 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
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