Author: Suzanne Rindell

Publisher: Penguin Books

First published: 2013

Setting: New York City, USA
Read in January 2014

My Rating ★★★★  4.2

My Waterstones Review

“A cleverly written debut novel from the Gatsby era”

An excellent debut novel that is well paced and clever, providing a window into the world of speakeasies and the familiar decadence of the Roaring Twenties, it will more than likely be turned into a film.

Rose is the narrator and considers herself plain. Odalie is the new typist at the police precinct, she is well dressed, charming and intelligent but she is also streetwise and manipulative. What influence will Odalie have on Rose?

Throughout the book we are wondering about Odalie’s background and not everything is black and white, the opposite to Rose’s orphanage background surrounded by nuns. As we read on we also wonder about Rose, she is changing under the influence of Odalie. At the conclusion there are a few questions unanswered, was this deliberately done to provide debate at the next book club? As I said, it has been cleverly written.

Book Review

It is 1924 and Rose Baker, our narrator, is a typist at a police precinct exposed to the interrogations of criminals of all types and the smells of the drunks who are brought in for their overnight recuperation. Rose, an orphan that has been raised by nuns, has led a sheltered life where right and wrong have been clearly defined. Prohibition is well established and the mayor has ordered that the police are to crack down on the organized crime that has erupted across the city as a result, they will need to recruit another typist.

Enter Odalie Lazare, a well dressed flapper, but not like Daisy from The Great Gatsby, Odalie is charming and intelligent, but we soon find out she is also streetwise and can manipulate others to perform tasks which are out of character. Rose is drawn into Odalie’s web as admiration turns into obsession. There is a growing sense that the book will climax probably with a twist and midway through we are introduced to Rose’s doctor, a psychiatrist.

This is an excellent debut novel which is well paced and clever, providing a window into the world of speakeasies and the familiar decadence of the Roaring Twenties, it will more than likely be turned into a film. Throughout the book we are wondering about Odalie’s true background, more than one explanation is given. We also wonder about Rose, clearly she considers herself plain and unattractive but the Lieutenant Detective, our batchelor, shows signs of interest, will Rose reciprocate or is Rose in love with Odalie and does she have lesbian tendencies? When we arrive at the end we are left with a number of unanswered questions about both Odalie, Rose and also what actually happened at the climax. Suzanne provides her answer in the last sentence of the book but by then the reader may have been led to other conclusions. As I say it is a clever book.