I wasn't a big fan of the Luxe Series. In fact, I wanted to beat my head against a wall and throw the books into the trash. They were not historically accurate. The girls in the previous series were too busy bed hopping in my opinion. However, when I learned Ms. Godbersen was writing about the 1920s I had to buy the book. I had high hopes, but I wasn't sure if this book would live up to them.
It did. The issues I had with the previous series aren't in this new novel. The author gets it right. One of the characters engages in sex but she pays the price for it. Yes! Thank you! Finally! After all, this is historical fiction and not 2010. Morals and attitudes are different.
Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are best friends in their small Ohio town. They have known each other for their entire lives. But both dream of something more. They decide to run away to New York City without telling their families.
Once in NYC their lives take very different turns. Cordelia and Letty have a fight which severs their friendship and both girls go their separate ways. Cordelia finds herself young, beautiful and rich. She is in the presence of bootleggers(prohibition is going on) and gangsters. Letty isn't as lucky with her fortune and becomes a cigarette girl selling trinkets in a speakeasy. But Letty dreams of becoming a singer, and one day she'll make it, if she can overcome her shyness.
The story alternates between the friends, although I would have to say the story focuses more on Cordelia. While the Luxe series was filled with backstabbing and gossiping there isn't much of that in this novel. It's a good story about young girls trying to find out who they are during 1929. Along the way they encounter death, love, hard times and new friends.
Teens who enjoyed the Luxe series should enjoy this novel as well. I'm interested to see where the author takes the characters. This is 1929...so does this mean we will see the Great Depression in future books? I hope so, but I'll have to wait and see.
