by Karen Abbott
First published 2010
Gypsy Rose Lee commands the stage with wit and audacity during America's darkest economic hour. The Depression has crushed vaudeville dreams and shuttered theaters, but Gypsy possesses an uncanny ability to give audiences exactly what they crave. Her rise to stardom unfolds against a backdrop of speakeasies, talking pictures, and desperate ambition. Behind her success lurks a volatile family triangle involving her actress sister June Havoc and their ruthless mother Rose, a diminutive woman who seduces both men and women while pushing her daughters toward fame at any cost. Rose's manipulations turn deadly when stage opportunities arise. Meanwhile, four enterprising brothers from New York City revolutionize American burlesque by importing Parisian theatrical styles, using questionable methods that skirt legal boundaries. Their innovations create the perfect venue for Gypsy's unique talents. Jazz Age luminaries like Lucky Luciano, Harry Houdini, and Fanny Brice populate this world of reinvention and survival, where entertainment becomes both escape and necessity for a nation rebuilding itself.
Genres: drama, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, rags-to-riches
Setting: America, New York City, Paris
Period: 1930s, Jazz Age
353 pages · Hardcover · Random House