by Janet Fox
But mainly I have me, Josephine Anne Winter, who has no clue what mysteries might spring up, and who still doesn’t know what it takes to be a true hero and is not always sure about right and wrong, but who is ready to find out. I’m ready to chart my own course, and whether I’m a flapper or not isn’t the point.
My future is very much up in the air, an open book, an unfinished story. I get to write my own ending. I get to find all the characters and the plot. And I believe it’ll turn out okay now.
I’m guided by the stars.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
There’s no question that the Roaring Twenties hold a mystique for contemporary readers. I think the reason for this is that there are many parallels between the 1920s and today: the excessive “anything goes” lifestyle, the emergence of wondrous new products, the search for spiritualism, and even the social and political tension that led to a Wall Street bombing. Veterans who had returned from World War I were as damaged as those who returned from Afghanistan and Iraq. In the 1920s flapper fashion ushered in a radical new style. The automobile ushered in a new physical and psychological freedom. Advertising and product development made their first appearances. And, of course, Prohibition is an endlessly fascinating subject, with its clandestine “speaks”—which encouraged the emergence of jazz and the blues and the rise of the gangster.
A number of resources gave me insight into the 1920s. Frederick Lewis Allen’s Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920’s was first published in 1931, which gives it the air of immediacy. Joshua Zeitz’s Flapper is a fascinating look at the women’s liberation movement that truly began in the ’20s. And Lucy Moore’s Anything Goes is a colorful examination of the nuances of life in the 1920s.
But I confess I was most taken with the spiritualism movement, and three of its intriguing figures, who also happened to be close (if argumentative) friends: Harry Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Howard Thurston. Thurston, in particular, fascinates me, and I learned much from Jim Steinmeyer’s biography of Thurston, The Last Greatest Magician in the World. Here was a man convinced of the reality of reincarnation, who yet thrilled the masses with his fakery and magic craft.
We resonate with history’s repetitions: the reckless 1920s and 1990s, followed by the belt-tightening 1930s and the first decade of the twenty-first century. I love the resonance of history, and I hope I’ve given you something to savor of New York in 1925.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Jen Bonnell, my amazing editor, you have done it again: pared my prose, focused my rambling, and helped me find the right words to build a world. It has been a true pleasure to work with you.
The luckiest day of my life was the day I met my agent, Alyssa Eisner Henkin. You are not only my agent but also my friend. Thank you always for your willingness to support me, to defend or console me, to instruct me. I love our wide-ranging chats but more importantly I value your guidance.
I have a new critique group here in Montana—how could I get so lucky again? You guys read the entire first draft of this novel (when it was huge, and all over the place) and you dissected it and advised me and set me on the true path. Sandra Brug, Kiri Jorgensen, Bailey Jorgensen, Maurene Hinds, and Linda Knox: you are all amazing and talented and really, really, really smart. Thank you so much. We are missing one member of our group who also gave me great advice and insight: Elaine Alphin. We think of you all the time, Elaine. There’s a chair at the table waiting for you. And chocolate, too.
My friend Michele Corriel read an early draft of Sirens. Michele, you were right every step of the way (second person address—gone!), and I value your terrific feedback.
I am enormously indebted to those in Speak/Puffin/Penguin who have supported me and believed in my work: Kristin Gilson, Eileen Kreit, Greg Stadnyk, Pat Shuldiner, and Nora M. Reichard.
Finally, to my sweet and ever-patient husband Jeff and my understanding and sometimes impatient but richly imaginative son Kevin (yes, you do have the best ideas): thank you both. You are willing to be my beta readers, willing to put up with my late nights, willing always to be there for me. How lucky can one girl get?
Sixteen-year-old Maggie Bennet’s life is in tatters. Her mother has disappeared and is presumed dead. The next thing she knows, her father has dragged Maggie away from their elegant Newport home, off on some mad excursion to Yellowstone in Montana. But when she arrives, she finds herself drawn to the frustratingly stubborn, handsome Tom Rowland, the son of a park geologist, and to the wild romantic beauty of Yellowstone itself. And as Tom and the promise of freedom capture Maggie’s heart, Maggie is forced to choose between who she is and who she wants to be.
“Fox combines mystery, romance, and a young girl’s coming-of-age in this satisfying historical tale.”
—Booklist
“Yellowstone is lovingly and beautifully depicted…. Thrilling episodes sprinkled throughout will engage readers.”
—School Library Journal
Kula Baker never expected to find herself on the streets of San Francisco, alone but for a letter of introduction. Kula soon finds herself swept up in a world of art and elegance—a world she hardly dared dream of back in Montana. And then there is the handsome David Wong, whose smiling eyes and soft-spoken manner have an uncanny way of breaking through Kula’s carefully crafted reserve. Yet when disaster strikes and the wreckage threatens all she holds dear, Kula realizes that only by unlocking her heart can she begin to carve a new future for herself.
“Absorbing, exciting, and romantic.”
—Nancy Werlin, New York Times bestselling author of Impossible
“Kula’s story comes to a heartbreaking, bittersweet conclusion that will leave readers satisfied.”
—School Library Journal