First published 2024
Fanny Fabricant's carefully planned future crumbles in one devastating moment. Raised to become a wife and mother in 1940s New York, she now faces an uncertain world as soldiers return home and the city buzzes with new energy. Her cousin Mimi pushes her to remain respectable, while her aunt Rose whispers of different possibilities drawn from her own rebellious history. Fanny takes a job writing radio serials, entering a vibrant world of performers and writers. Through her friendship with a leading actress and a talented scriptwriter, she discovers the growing blacklist destroying careers and lives around her. The safe path beckons, but conscience pulls her toward dangerous territory. Fanny must choose between security and principle, between the men who embody each choice, and ultimately between who she was raised to be and who she might become.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, redemption
Setting: New York
Period: 1940s
368 pages · Paperback · Griffin
Content warnings: sexism