New York, 1916. Monroe Simonov, a song-plugger from Brooklyn, is in love with a Ziegfeld Follies dancer who has left him for California. Inez Kennedy, a fashion model in a department store, has just one season remaining to find a wealthy husband before she must return to the Midwest. Ana Denisova, a glamorous political exile, gives lectures and writes letters while she waits for the Russian people to overthrow their Tsar. Then America joins the war, jazz sweeps the city's dance floors, the old order is swept away by newly minted millionaires and the entire nation is gripped by the Red Scare. Although the world is changing faster than they could ever have imagined, Monroe, Inez and Ana discover that they are still subject to the tyranny of the heart. In this richly atmospheric and deftly plotted novel, the paths of these three central figures cross and re-cross, leaving a trail of passion, infidelity and betrayal, and hurtle towards an explosive climax.
Author Biography
Beatrice Colin was born in London and raised in Scotland but has lived in New York. She has worked as a freelance journalist, writing for publications including the Guardian, and a playwright, writing radio plays for the BBC. She lives in Glasgow. Her most recent book, The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite, was a Richard & Judy selection and has been translated into seven languages.
