THERE SHE WAS

This is a Washington Post style editor's fascinating and irresistible look back on the Miss America pageant as it approaches its 100th anniversary.

In its heyday, Miss America was viewed across the country by over 70 million people each year. In many ways, it was the first reality TV show. Yet today, fewer and fewer people tune in to watch what was once a national sensation. As the pageant struggles for relevance, many wonder what happened.

Now, the hidden world of the iconic competition comes to life in this deeply reported journey through Miss America's past and present, including intimate interviews with dozens of the women who sought or won the title - and those still beginning their quest in local "Miss" pageants across the country. Amy Argetsinger traces how the dusty institution collided with a women's liberation movement that sought to abolish it, and how it was reborn thanks to the new energy of baby boomer and Generation X contestants. From Phyllis George to Vanessa Williams to Gretchen Carlson, the pageant became a venue for young women to exercise their ambitions and learn brutal lessons about the culture of fame.

Poignant and revelatory, There She Was charts the evolution of the American woman, from the Miss America catapulted into advocacy after she was exposed as a domestic violence victim, to the one who used the crown to launch a congressional campaign; from a 1930s winner who ran away on the night of her crowning to a current-day rock guitarist trying to find her place in this world. It dissects the scandals and financial turmoil that have repeatedly threatened to kill the pageant - and the unlikely sisterhood of Miss Americas who struggled to keep it alive.

Amy Argetsinger is an editor for The Washington Post style section. A staff writer since 1995, she became the Style section's Reliable Source columnist before becoming editor in 2014.