Review by Eleanor J. Bader
When Maya Smith was looking for a short-term rental so she could complete a research project, she answered an ad for an $800 apartment share in midtown Manhattan. It was 2014, and while the offer sounded too good to be true, when she arrived at the building the situation proved more fortuitous than she could have imagined.
The prime tenant, Alvenia Bridges, was now down on her luck but had once rubbed elbows with Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Hall, Bill Graham, and other celebrities. In fact, for a time, Bridges was an iron-willed concert coordinator, working for The Rolling Stones and Roberta Flack. She’d earlier been a highly sought-after model thanks to her friendship with race car driver John von Neumann, a man with well-oiled connections to the rich and famous of the 1960s and 70’s.
It’s a remarkable story, and as Bridges slowly confided in Smith, the pair decided to collaborate on a memoir. The result, Reclaiming Venus – Venus was von Neumann’s nickname for Bridges–is a gossipy but intriguing look at one woman’s escape from the racism and sexism of 1950s Kansas. As the story unfolds, readers learn that she sidestepped parental abuse and neglect, a feat made possible by her grandmother. Then there’s luck–being in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people–something that was no doubt aided by the fact that Bridges was a six-foot-tall beauty.
While her decline is not as clearly detailed as her ascent, Reclaiming Venus: The Many Lives of Alvenia Bridges is nonetheless an entertaining account of one woman’s determination to live boldly and on her own terms. Moreover, despite not being a civil rights or feminist activist, Bridges always modeled chutzpah, standing up for herself and other women and challenging white male domination of the music and fashion industries. Unsung until now, Reclaiming Venus brings Alvenia Bridges to public attention. At 80, she has earned her laurels.
Reclaiming Venus: The Many Lives of Alvenia Bridges by Maya Smith and Alvenia Bridges. Rising Action Publishing Co., October 2024.
Reviewer bio: Eleanor J. Bader is a Brooklyn, NY-based journalist who writes about books and domestic social issues for Truthout, Rain Taxi, The Progressive, Ms. Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Indypendent.