The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

Frances Marion and Mary Pickford were best friends who helped shape Hollywood in its infancy. Mary was the face, the perpetual little girl, while Frances worked behind the scenes as a scenarist (writer). The book follows both women from their beginnings with “flickers” to wondering what kind of future they'll have when the “talkies” become popular. Their friendship, like most, has it's ups and downs, but they eventually fracture in a way that neither thinks can be repaired. 

I enjoyed this story because it taught me a lot about the early days of Hollywood, however, I felt at time that the conflicts between Frances and Mary were insanely petty. I felt like a story about women who were pioneers in the film industry was basically boiled down to arguments about men and who's trying to upstage who at work. The book was a quick read and kept me interested.