First published 2011
Rose packs a polka dot dress and boards a plane from London to America in the spring of 1968. She carries a one-way ticket and plans to meet Washington Harold, a man nursing a bitter grudge. Together they set out across a country reeling from Martin Luther King's assassination and urban riots. They hunt for Dr. Wheeler, the mysterious figure who once saved Rose from her terrible childhood but left Harold burning with resentment. Their cross-country journey in a camper van takes them through an America coming apart at the seams. They encounter Wheeler's former followers, each carrying their own festering anger about politics and culture. Meanwhile, a famous artist gets shot in New York, wounded soldiers return from Vietnam, and racial violence erupts in cities and suburbs. Many Americans pin their hopes on presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, whose campaign path mirrors Rose and Harold's quest. Both journeys lead toward the same destination: the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on one fateful June night that will change everything.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, road-trip
Setting: London, America, Los Angeles
Period: 1968, Spring
208 pages · Paperback · Europa Editions
Content warnings: violence