Perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Jodi Picoult, and Emma Cline,
this vividly lyrical, evocative novel from the award-winning author
transports readers to the gritty atmosphere of 1970s New York City as
the precarious lines between girl and woman, art and obscenity, fetish
and fame flicker and ignite for a young girl on the brink of stardom and
a mother on the verge of collapse.
"A gorgeously written, emotionally resonant novel about mothers and
daughters." --Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author
In 1970s New York, her innocence is seductive.
Four decades later, it's a crime...
Living peacefully in Vermont, Ryan Flannigan is shocked when a text from
her oldest friend alerts her to a devastating news item. A controversial
photo of her as a pre-teen has been found in the possession of a wealthy
investor recently revealed as a pedophile and a sex trafficker--with an
inscription to him from Ryan's mother on the back.
Memories crowd in, providing their own distinctive pictures of her
mother Fiona, an aspiring actress, and their move to the West Village in
1976. Amid the city's gritty kaleidoscope of wealth and poverty, high
art, and sleazy strip clubs, Ryan is discovered and thrust into the
spotlight as a promising young actress with a woman's face and a child's
body. Suddenly, the safety and comfort Ryan longs for is replaced by
auditions, paparazzi, and the hungry eyes of men of all ages.
Forced to reexamine her childhood, Ryan begins to untangle her young
fears and her mother's ambitions, and the role each played in the
fraught blackout summer of 1977. Even with her movie career long behind
her, Ryan and Fiona are suddenly the object of uncomfortable
speculation--and Fiona demands Ryan's support. To put the past to rest,
Ryan will need to face the painful truth of their relationship, and the
night when everything changed.
"Magnetic...This knotty story leaves readers reflecting on the limits
of family obligations." -Publishers Weekly
