Photo Credit: Goodreads
It’s here! It’s time! The February She Reads Book Club Selection is………. THE WIFE, THE MAID, and THE MISTRESS by Ariel Lawhon (one of the geniuses behind She Reads). Recently released and already generating tons of buzz in the book world- this book should be a popular pick with book clubs around the world. Want more proof? Read the summary:
A tantalizing reimagining of a scandalous mystery that rocked the nation in 1930-Justice Joseph Crater’s infamous disappearance-as seen through the eyes of the three women who knew him best.
They say behind every great man, there’s a woman. In this case, there are three. Stella Crater, the judge’s wife, is the picture of propriety draped in long pearls and the latest Chanel. Ritzi, a leggy showgirl with Broadway aspirations, thinks moonlighting in the judge’s bed is the quickest way off the chorus line. Maria Simon, the dutiful maid, has the judge to thank for her husband’s recent promotion to detective in the NYPD. Meanwhile, Crater is equally indebted to Tammany Hall leaders and the city’s most notorious gangster, Owney “The Killer” Madden.
On a sultry summer night, as rumors circulate about the judge’s involvement in wide-scale political corruption, the Honorable Joseph Crater steps into a cab and disappears without a trace. Or does he?
After 39 years of necessary duplicity, Stella Crater is finally ready to reveal what she knows. Sliding into a plush leather banquette at Club Abbey, the site of many absinthe-soaked affairs and the judge’s favorite watering hole back in the day, Stella orders two whiskeys on the rocks-one for her and one in honor of her missing husband. Stirring the ice cubes in the lowball glass, Stella begins to tell a tale-of greed, lust, and deceit. As the novel unfolds and the women slyly break out of their prescribed roles, it becomes clear that each knows more than she has initially let on.
With a layered intensity and prose as effervescent as the bubbly that flows every night, The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress is a wickedly entertaining historical mystery that will transport readers to a bygone era with tipsy spins through subterranean jazz clubs and backstage dressing rooms. But beneath the Art Deco skyline and amid the intoxicating smell of smoke and whiskey, the question of why Judge Crater disappeared lingers seductively until a twist in the very last pages.
Want to read this book? You are in luck! Traveling With T just happens to know of several giveaways! She Reads is giving away 5 copies (plus shot glasses- super cute!), Goodreads is giving away 30 copies, and because Doubleday Publishing is the cat’s pajamas- for the She Reads Twitter chat where we chat with Ariel Lawhon (hosted by me!)- 10 copies of the book will be given away that night! The Twitter chat is February 27th- 8pmEST. #srbkchat is the hashtag (while all are welcome to join in the fun of the Twitter chat- the giveaway portion is limited to US only (sorry!)
Want to read what others are saying about The Wife, The Maid and The Mistress? You are in luck! Check out She Reads Blog Network and see what they are saying!
Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,
T @ Traveling With T
Traveling With T 