Review Detail

I expected this to be something like the Bright Young Things series by Anna Godberson - of which I am not a fan. I was hoping for something like the Flapper series by Jillian Larkin. What I got was neither of those things - it was book entirely it's own, shiny new take on the 1920's Prohibition, organized crime and partying phenomenon. This was a book about a girl who actually doesn't care about being a flapper, as much as she'd like to be an independent career girl. Also the one flapper we really get to know, her cousin Melody, has a tragic backstory of her own. She is really only going through the motions and has something that matters more to her than partying ever could - even if she is disillusioned by life. I liked that it went back and forth between Jo's point of view and Lou's. They were two completely different women and it was definitely interesting to see the obvious discrepancies in the way they view the world. Being Irish and poor in America in the early 1900's forced Lou to fend for herself or find someone to take care of her - she chose the latter, and went with Danny Connor. Jo, from a very different background, is also learning that same lesson throughout the novel, but she chooses to fend for herself.
Along with the romance and partying in this book, came a murder mystery. The death of Jo's brother Teddy also was linked with a real-life political bombing that Fox used to very good affect. I especially enjoyed the detailed descriptions of NY in the 1920's. Fox has a serious gift with words.