At the end of WWII, Ellie Morgan is engaged and hoping to move up from the job as a secretary at the San Francisco Chronicle to become a journalist. Then she receives the news that her adored pilot father was shot down of the Adriatic Sea and may not be alive. Ellie is devastated. She keeps hoping her father will come home, but when his effects arrive a mystery surfaces.
In the pocket of his uniform jacket, Ellie finds a bundle of love letters, but the woman is not her mother and there is the possibility that a child is involved. Ellie’s mother is locked in her own world so Ellie goes to her aunt Iris and persuades her to go with her to New York to find out about this mysterious woman and her daughter.
Iris agrees to help her niece, but with trepidation. Her past will come out. She was a Zigfield showgirl and worse, she thinks she may have been involved in the murder of another showgirl.
This is an excellent historical novel. Ellie is a strong character. She’s at the cusp of doing things women before WWII only dreamed of, but she’s also tied to the patterns of behavior inculcated by her strict mother. Iris is also a good character. She obviously lived her life to the full and accepted the price at the end of her show career.
The historical content is accurate and based on an actual Jazz Age murder in 1920 in New York. Both time periods came to life in the narrative. If you enjoy historical fiction and a good mystery, this is a good choice.
I received this book from Dutton for this review.
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