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It's 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test. With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.
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0 0 Received an ARC from NetGalley
One of my favorite things about Ruta Sepetys is how multi-dimensional, interesting and strong her characters are. It feels like strong female characters in YA are on the rise but are still hit or miss for the most part. Sepetys nailed it with Josie Muraine, a prostitute's daughter in 1950's New Orleans, and Willie, the madam who has been a guiding force in Josie's life. Throughout the book, Josie is desperately trying to get out of New Orleans and get accepted into Smith College in Massachusetts so that she can make something of herself. This begins to get more complicated as her mother is implicated in the murder of a well-known businessman and drags Josie into it. The entire cast of characters is compelling, funny and endearing and I couldn't help but love many of them. Willie is one of the most entertaining and strangely loveable characters I've seen in YA literature. I loved that Josie was trying to identify who she was and what exactly she wanted and even though I'm not a fan of love triangles, this one went in a direction I wasn't expecting and enjoyed. Highly recommend this one to anyone who has liked Sepetys in the past or is a fan of YA historical fiction!
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