The French Quarter of New Orleans in 1950 was not the place for Josie. And it wasn't just growing up with her "working" mother in the whorehouse (and quickly finding a way to NOT live there) and it wasn't just the violence of the Quarter. It was just that she wanted MORE. More education. More legitimacy. More "regular" life. But when your mom hooks up with a criminal and then a wealthy man is murdered under mysterious circumstances, it's going to take all the guts Josie can muster to get even a little of what she wants without sacrificing the person she wants to be.
I wanted to like this. I loved the author's previous book, Between Shades of Gray, so I picked this up without knowing anything about it. I don't know why it didn't grab me. Maybe the whorehouse vibe just wore thin, which I know isn't fair to Josie's experience, but there you go. Maybe I wanted Josie to somehow have even more guts than she did. Maybe my expectations were too high for her, but her behavior got old to me. The romance was nice enough but I didn't feel drenched in 1950s New Orleans, not as much as I wanted to.
Oh well, I guess not every book that everyone else likes will be a winner for me.
2 comments:
Drats...I loved Gray too, and have this on my shelf...oh well.
I felt the same way - the book didn't feel like it was set in 1950 to me.
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