The Girls at the Kingfisher Club: A Novel
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About this ebook
Jo, the firstborn, “The General” to her eleven sisters, is the only thing the Hamilton girls have in place of a mother. She is the one who taught them how to dance, the one who gives the signal each night, as they slip out of the confines of their father’s Manhattan townhouse and into the cabs that will take them to the speakeasy. Together they elude their distant and controlling father, until the day he decides to marry them all off.
The girls, meanwhile, continue to dance, from Salon Renaud to the Swan and, finally, the Kingfisher, the club they've come to call home. They dance until one night when they are caught in a raid, separated, and Jo is thrust face-to-face with someone from her past: a bootlegger named Tom whom she hasn’t seen in almost ten years. Suddenly Jo must balance not only the needs of her father and eleven sisters, but her own as well.
With The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, award-winning writer Genevieve Valentine takes her superb storytelling gifts to new heights, joining the leagues of such Jazz Age depicters as Amor Towles and Paula McLain, and penning a dazzling tale about love, sisterhood, and freedom.
Genevieve Valentine
Genevieve Valentine is the author of Persona and of the critically acclaimed novel Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, which won the Crawford Award for Best novel, as well as a nomination for the Nebula Award and the Romantic Times Best Fantasy of the Year. Her short fiction has been nominated for a World Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. She lives in New York City. Visit her at GenevieveValentine.com.
Read more from Genevieve Valentine
Icon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
175 ratings19 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An amazing, astounding, feminist retelling of a fairy tale, and also a gorgeous look at life in the 1920s U.S. The sisters are so different from each other--each one comes alive on the page. I anxiously followed each sister's story, hoping for every one to get her happy ending.
(Provided by publisher) - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Read half of it at work, then finished it when I got home, whoops.
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club is a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses fairy tale, except instead of the random stranger who stalks the girls in a magical cloak, the sisters are in the drivers seat of their own story.
You'd think with twelve major characters, it would be difficult to give each one a distinct personality (an issue I have with The Hobbit dwarves). Valentine fleshes them into more than caricatures, although I do feel like the youngest children got less detail due to screen time.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find one of the side characters is Chinese American- when introduced, they weren't racialized ("sleek, dark hair and high cheekbones that made him look like the star on a movie marquee") and I'll own up to internal systemic biases for picturing Thomas from Downton Abbey instead of recognizing a fictional brother until he pointed it out to the protagonist.
Quirks: Valentine tends to use parentheticals for secondary thoughts her characters have, or tangential after-the-facts related to the statement before.
(I recognize *I* do this when tweeting sometimes, but it's pretty noticeable here) - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls At the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine is a reworking of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale. The story is set during the 1920’s in New York City and the princesses in this story are twelve sisters who are controlled by a distant, unloving father who barely acknowledges them, the only child he wanted was a male heir instead he was gifted daughter after daughter. He is ashamed at not being able to produce a male heir and keeps the girls locked away.Sneaking out and going dancing at a speakeasy is the girl’s way of defying their father. The eldest daughter, Jo, has become a mother figure to the rest, although they don’t always understand that she is only trying to protect them from their cold father. Eventually rumors of society girls out dancing and running wild in the night surface and their father decides he will pick husbands for the girls and marry them off. Knowing that he will chose men much like himself, the girls are desperate to find a way of avoiding this fate.Although there are no fantasy elements in this story, it has a strangely removed feeling with an almost dreamlike atmosphere. The author chose to highlight the special relationship that sisters share. I believe she captured this unique bond the sisters had, the love as well as the tensions and jealousies that arise in such a close relationship. Of course, over the course of the book we come to know some of the sisters better than others as twelve distinct personalities is hard to juggle. Overall this book reminded me of the 2001 film, Moulin Rouge. I can well imagine The Girls At the Kingfisher Club being put to music and filling a large screen.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing was the only time any of them ever really smiled. They were never alive until the music was shaking the floor under their feet.This novel was a re-imagining of the fairytale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." I can't comment on whether it was very similar to "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" as I have never read it, but I can say that this novel is enjoyable even if you haven't read TWDP. This novel follows twelve sisters during the roaring twenties as they sneak out of their house, away from their overly controlling father who wants nothing to do with them, to dance the night away in speakeasies. I am still just baffled at the thought of twelve sisters living together in one house and managing not to tear the house down.All of the sisters in this book seemed to have different personalities but they were all really interesting to read about. This book does tend to focus on Jo, aka General, the oldest of the girls. I liked that she was not just the leader of the group, she also had her internal struggles that the others didn't really know about. They may have resented her and how controlling she could be at times but she really made sure that they stayed safe and protected from not only their father but from the dangers of the outside world. I really enjoyed reading about the secondary characters of this book, mostly those people that they meet at the speakeasies. I grew to love them as much as I loved the sisters.After the big confrontation about 3/4ths of the way through it was really interesting to see how different the girls' lives become and to see where they ultimately end up. I grew to feel as though I was a thirteenth sister and was really happy to see how they all progressed throughout the novel. The ending seemed to cut off right as something really good happens and readers are left to their own imaginations as to what happens with Jo, Tom, and Lou. I like to think that they all lived happily ever after.Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the galley.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A modern retelling of the tale "12 Dancing Princesses," this story is enchanting. Twelve sisters, locked away by their father from the world, manage to find a way to escape to the nightlife of New York city in the 1920s. The story of what became of them is told with the voice and mood of the fairy tale and carries the reader away.What a fun read! I started it on an extremely hot day when there was little else I could do because my A/C was broken and all I wanted was to sit with an icy drink in front of the fans. This book was perfect for the occasion. Because the most of the action takes place in various speakeasies in New York City during Prohibition, I thought the suitable drink would be my lemon infused gin in a gilded teacup. It was.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A jazz age retelling of the fairy tale of the 12 dancing princesses. I enjoyed the story, but don't really remember the original fairy tale. I am going to have to go find it to compare. The modern retelling of fairy tales seems to be a very popular trend, and one that I enjoy as I read every fairy tale I could find when I was growing up.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" set during the 1920s. It succeeds at giving twelve sisters distinct personalities partly because Valentine remembers to give them flaws along with differing tastes and personality quirks. They have qualities that make them unlikeable to each other.Of course, it is even more believable that the Hamilton sisters - shut up in their house, neglected by their parents - would have difficult relationships. Jo, the eldest, earns the nickname of "the General" - but being strict allows Jo to keep her sisters safe. They can to bear their daytime imprisonment because they have a nightly escape, dancing in the underground clubs of New York, and they survive those nightly escapades because they have rules. And then their father announces his intention to see his daughters married, and the cops raid the Kingfisher, and everything begins to unravel.I couldn't put The Girls at the Kingfisher Club down. The story is compelling, and the writing is so effective. Gorgeous, sparse, heartbreaking.I love the way it focuses so much on the sisters and their relationships with each other. I love Jo, because because she is so... selfless and heartbreakingly fierce, in trying to protect her sisters. And then, when she has to let go, in trying to let go.The Girls at the Kingfisher Club is one of the best books I've read this year. (Reviewed August 2014)Never tell a man your name. Never mention where you live, or any place we go. Never let a man take you anywhere; if you take one into the alley to neck, tell one of your sisters, and come back as soon as you can.Never fall for a man so hard you can't pull your heart back in time.We'll leave without you if we have to.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loosely based upon the fairy tale 'Twelve Dancing Princesses.' Eldest sister Jo is the closest thing her eleven sisters have to a mother in a household run by a distant, controlling father. She teaches them to dance and herds them to and from the dance clubs to keep them safe and secret, until one day her father decides it's time to for them to marry -- to his benefit -- and not only that, but he suspects that they have not been keeping to their attic abode, but instead sneaking out to dance.
I listened to this as an audio book.
I don't really have much to say about The Girls at the Kingfisher Club except that it was a jazz age glory, and it both broke my heart and kept me up all evening -- and then all night -- finishing the book. I staggered into work the next day running on three hours of sleep with red eyes and exhausted, and then had a hard time reading anything else for more than a month. Do you hear that, Valentine? You wrecked my reading goal for the year, thanks a lot.
I don't tend to push books at my friends, mostly because I never know if they share my interests enough to enjoy my reading habits, but I've been singing this one to anyone who will listen to me for thirty seconds. The audio book is great. The story is great. It ended just where I think it ought to have, and no, I do not want a sequel, just more like it. Hosannah, hosannah, The Girls of the Kingfisher Club rocks, hosannah. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Review: Fun fluff. The plot definitely grew on me as the story progressed. I was engrossed by the last third as the sisters grew older and had increasing difficulty maintaining their secret dancing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Really enjoyed this 20th century take on a lesser known fairy tale. It was realistic and fantastic at the same time. Family dynamics, economics, romance, and dancing. Was a quick, light read that ended at just the right moment.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I don't know what it is about prohibition-era books, but they all seem to fall flat for me. This is in spite of all of my hopes that every time I pick one up, it will be THE one. You know, the one that lives up to all of my hopes and dreams. Is that a bit unrealistic? Yes. But I know it's also doable as I've seen some fantastic things done on screen that fulfill that exact wish (Boardwalk Empire anyone?). I thought that THE GIRLS AT THE KINGFISHER CLUB by Genevieve Valentine would be perfect as it combined two of my favorite things - Prohibition time period and Fairy-Tale roots. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat. Let me tell you why - Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on August 16, 2014.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cloistered at home, Jo and her eleven sisters sneak out night after night to dance in speakeasies and clubs scattered throughout the city. They come to life while they dance, shedding their sheltered and stifling life. When their father becomes suspicious about newspaper reports of the "twelve dancing girls" he decides that it is time to marry off his daughters. This is an enchanting story, one with many fairy-tale like qualities. I felt very sympathetic for Jo and her sisters and admired their bravery to cast out into an unknown world. The writing style was magical and flowed from scene to scene beautifully. Overall, highly recommended.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses set during the Jazz age. The girls are an embarrassment to a man who desperately wanted a son to continue the family name and business. There are a two sets of twins among the sisters in order to keep the ages closer together and the storytelling works hard at making each sister distinct. Jo is the eldest and is the surrogate mother to the girls since their father dismisses the nannies to save money and their mother dies. He seems embarrassed right from the start that he has only daughters and as the numbers go up he never allows them in public. The older ones were allowed out where they wouldn't be noticed by high society. A trip to the movies for Jo as a young girl starts a love affair with dancing that she passes to each of her sisters in turn. Once the nannies are fired there are no more trips to the movies but the desire to dance continues to grow. The eldest four start sneaking out and going to nightclubs. As the girls get older more of them come to the clubs even the ones that certainly should never be out but Jo watches them all like the General her sisters call her. Their father knows they are going out and is desperate to stop them before they can "ruin" his name. He decides to start marrying off the girls to men he has picked out for them. Jo is desperate to find a way to fix things and by the end of the story there is a happy ending even if you want more story for each of the girls. A good retelling of the fairy tale and no need to know the fairy tale at all in order to enjoy this one.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A re-telling of the little known fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm that has been set during Prohibition in New York City. Twelve sisters have been held hostage by a wealthy, business minded father who cared only to have a male heir. Disappointed by his multitude of daughters, he has kept them practically locked up in their large house, not even bothering to learn all of their names or see their faces. After their mother dies, the eldest sister, Jo is placed in charge of the girls. In order to keep the girls satisfied, Jo sneaks them out at night to go dancing at select speakeasies. Known only as the princesses, the sisters revel in the anonymity and freedom of the dance until their father becomes suspicious and wants to marry them off. I enjoyed this story, although I had a hard time relating to the characters. The Jazz age in New York City was a wonderful setting, the different underground bars, dresses, dancing shoes and the variety of dances created a magical atmosphere that made the twelve sisters disappearing into the night very believable. The story focused mainly on Jo, but was written in the third person and bounced around to all the characters (it also had a ton of parenthesized thoughts from the characters, which was something different then I'm used to). This didn't really bother me, but I didn't feel like I really connected to anyone, even near the end when there were a lot of emotions. Overall, I did enjoy this fairy tale retold as historical fiction, but the point of view didn't work for me. This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valentine married my favorite fairytale with my favorite decade in this addicting retelling. I couldn’t put it down—the other three books I’m reading got shoved to the side for this gem.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5“I like boats” if you know, you know. Charming book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another installment in my reading of 12 dancing princesses adaptations. This one was the best so far even if it didn't actually contain any supernatural elements, just good writing and historical fiction that felt true to the time period while also having feminist undertones...Its a pet peeve of mine when historical novels have blatantly modern themes and mindsets shown while still claiming historical accuracy. But this book didn't feel like that, yay!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So much fun! And a brilliant transformation of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." I was skeptical at the outset, wondering if Valentine would be able to give distinct personalities to twelve sisters (let alone whatever other frequent characters appeared in the book), but dang! You could tell she had a blast writing this, and it was only after I finished that I realized she's the reader for the audio as well (also outstanding). I loved the how she wrote the sisterhood dynamics. I loved the sense of time and place. I love that it has a fairy tale ending (is this actually a spoiler?). It never hit a dull patch...I would have listened to it in one sitting if I could. Again, I'll call out to the YALSA gods--why didn't this get an Alex?
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What a fun and awesome book this was. I don't even know how I found it--I think it might have been recommended on Scribd--but it really was fantastic. If you like the 1920s and fairy tale retellings, you will probably enjoy this book. Yes, the characters are sparsely drawn, and the story is a little weird in some ways, but it is well worth a read.
Book preview
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club - Genevieve Valentine
one
NO SIR, THAT’S NOT MY GAL
By 1927 there were twelve girls who danced all night and never gave names, but by then the men had given up asking and called them all Princess.
Hey, Princess, dust off your shoes? It’s the Charleston!
The men would have called them anything they wanted to be called, Dollface or Queenie or Beloved, just to get one girl on the dance floor for a song. But in that flurry of short dresses and spangles and ribbon-tied shoes, Princess was the name that suited; it seemed magical enough, like maybe it was true.
Wild things, these girls; wild for dancing. They could go all night without sitting, grabbing at champagne between songs, running to the throng at the table and saying something that made them all laugh, light and low together like the parts of a chorus.
It wasn’t right, all those women sticking together so close. Something about the wall of bob-haired girls scared the men, though they hardly knew it. They just knew they’d better dance their best with a Princess, and no mistake.
No need to worry, though, as long as a man could dance. The nights were long and drink was cheap, and sometimes the Princesses’ smiles were red-lipped and happy and not sharp white flashing teeth, and there were so many that if one of them turned down a dance, it was easy to wait and try again with another one.
Princess, pass me a waltz?
Some men never noticed their full numbers. (It was hardly fair to even ask a man to count; there were two pairs of twins—or three, hard to say—and it was easy to get confused.) They moved in little packs, two and three at a time, and it was tough to keep track. Some men thought there were only ten, or nine. The younger ones, boys just out from under their mothers’ noses, saw only the one they loved in the crowd.
The older men understood how that mistake could happen—one had golden hair, one had bright green eyes, one had a swan’s neck; together they were intoxicating—but there was no point. The girls were wild for dancing, and nothing else. No hearts beat underneath those thin, bright dresses. They laughed like glass.
The coldest one looked like someone had dragged a statue out for the night, as if she would scratch out your eyes if you so much as looked at her sideways.
No man was fool enough to ask her to dance. No reason to die young when there were eleven others.
There were willing sisters who smelled like 4711, or Shalimar, or smoke; always some sweet ones who closed their eyes and revealed dark pencil along their lashes, who laughed when a partner swung them around, who grinned and touched a man’s shoe with her own when they tapped back and forth.
No need to worry about battleaxes when a man had a girl who could light up the floor. No need to worry about loving one when all of them would be back tomorrow night. No need for names at all, so long as when a fellow called her Princess,
she said, Yes.
Turned out it was just as well, not knowing, once the newspapermen came asking.
two
THAT’S MY WEAKNESS NOW
When Jo’s father summoned her to his office, it was the first time she’d heard from him in almost a year.
She was in the upstairs library. It had been the schoolroom, but after the last governess was dismissed and lessons fell slowly by the wayside, only the bookish girls crossed the threshold for pleasure: Doris, Rebecca, Araminta, and Jo.
(What is there to even look at?
asked Lou, who read plumbing manuals and fashion papers and little else.
Jo said, The atlas.
)
Miss Hamilton,
a maid said from the doorway to the library. Your father’s asking for you.
Walters always sent a maid up to the girls’ floors rather than go himself; Jo guessed he kept to the old ways of doing these things. This one was a stranger—there were always new maids, it seemed—and couldn’t have been older than Sophie.
A little behind her, Araminta’s and Rebecca’s worried faces appeared in the hall.
Jo stood and smoothed her skirt.
As Jo passed, Rebecca whispered, Good luck, General.
Walters was waiting for her on the second-floor landing, and he led the way, as though Jo might not know where the study was.
She might not have. Their father moved his study, sometimes, as rooms took his fancy. He summoned Jo every so often, and she’d sometimes find him in a refurbished parlor or the library downstairs, if he had grown tired of his proper study. The rooms lined the right-hand side of the house, and the girls who lived above those rooms walked on glass even more than the rest. For a year, when Rose and Lily were first learning to dance, Jo had found that his makeshift office was on the second floor just under their room, and they’d had to practice in Jo and Lou’s room to be sure he wouldn’t hear.
Their room was over the high ceilings of the ballroom, which would only have been used for parties; they were always safe.
As they approached the office (his proper office—he must be content with himself these days, to go back to old habits), Walters vanished with a doleful warning look, and Jo was alone.
She wasn’t as frightened as Walters seemed to think she should be. The first time she’d been alone with her father, years ago, she’d realized what he thought of her. After that, the worst was over.
It had been easy enough, after that, for Jo to come downstairs and listen to her father talk about how he was dismissing the governess, how the girls shouldn’t look out the windows so much, as people might ask questions.
She’d come down half a dozen times, carrying an armful of worn-out shoes, to argue for a larger catalog allowance.
Jo knew that her job, after he had spoken, was to be efficient, obedient, and grateful.
(She had tried once, when she was fourteen, to argue with him over something. Her face had stung for three hours.)
It was just as well that her father wanted to see her as rarely as she wanted to be seen.
Mr. van de Maar, her father’s business associate, was on his way out; he carried the briefcase that always made him look as though he was smuggling cash out the front door. Jo wouldn’t have been entirely surprised.
When he saw her, his face went a little pinched at the edges, like he was in an advertisement for starched collars.
That her father allowed him to know about Josephine worried her; it always looked as though it worried him, too.
He nodded without really looking at her and made his exit.
Walters cut ahead of her to open the door for him, and Josephine watched the busy street slice into sight and vanish again, a flash of full loud daylight.
When she paused on the threshold of the office, he was sitting as she always thought of him—behind his desk, upright, glancing disdainfully at a newspaper.
He was a handsome man; even before she’d really seen other men in the world, she’d known he was handsome. (He must have been handsome, for people to excuse her mother marrying him.) When he was lost in concentration he had the air of a head of state, and she dared not interrupt him even to knock. She folded her hands, waited.
At last he looked up.
Ah,
he said, Josephine. Come in.
He had a way of saying her name, a tiny pause between the second and third syllables, as if she needed the reminder that she’d been expected to be a boy.
She stopped well on the far side of his desk. You called for me, sir.
Yes.
He leaned back in his chair and picked up the newspaper. Something this morning came to my attention. ‘The lawless, repellent gin fever that sweeps our once-fair city has affected not only the low and easily tempted, but the high and well-meaning. The daylight banker spends his nights intoxicated, and the daughters of our storied families are lured in numbers, by immodest music and the demon drink, like princesses into that dark underground which leaves no innocent unsullied.’
Jo’s heart thudded once against her ribs. She tried to keep her face blank, her breathing even.
He folded the newspaper over his hands and looked at her. What do you think of this, Josephine?
Too many adjectives.
He raised an eyebrow. I meant, what do you think of this group of girls going out dancing at night?
She waited just long enough before she said, It sounds like a lot of trouble, sir.
Do you think,
he asked carefully, as if he’d only just now thought of it, any of your sisters would know something about this?
None of them would go out without my knowing, sir.
He set the newspaper on the table and sighed. Sit down, Josephine.
The desk between them seemed fifty feet wide. That suited her fine. She crossed her legs like Miss May, their first governess, had taught her, laced her hands in her lap.
I’ve been thinking, lately, about how you and your sisters are growing up.
Jo thought it best not to reply.
You can’t spend the rest of your days in this house. It’s not the right life for sweet girls. I’ve done my best to keep you away from the worst of the world, as your mother would have wanted, but I see now it can’t go on like this.
The pause pressed against Jo’s ears. She wondered if the day had come when she and her sisters could walk out.
The first thing she’d do would be to take them to the Metropolitan Museum, and then walk through the park to the opera, and they’d go out to eat at a restaurant that didn’t have a basement door in the alley with a man waiting for a secret knock if you wanted to get in on the dancing.
And so I believe it’s time you all married,
their father said.
Jo froze.
Married. Said like it was a prize for them, like it was a choice.
She thought about her mother, what situation she must have been in that marrying their father would have been the way out. It wasn’t a compelling case.
He frowned. Josephine?
I see,
she managed.
She had, in the years they’d spent in the upper rooms, imagined what would become of them on the day that, one way or another, their father couldn’t hold them any more. It had never stuck; she could get through one day, or two, with all of them in tow, but with twelve of them to care for and no money, no plan had any staying power.
But in all the dreadful things she’d worried over, she’d never imagined this.
(That their father was willing to let them go had never occurred to her at all.)
And now, marriage.
They’d be passed from one house to another, without ever seeing the city in daylight, moved into place like any other heirloom.
The girls could hope that these husbands, wherever her father planned to find them, would be kinder and more liberal men than he was. But the sort of man who wanted a girl who’d never been out in the world was the sort whose wife would stay at home in bed and try to produce heirs until she died from it.
Jo knew that much.
I thought about having some parties here, but it might worry your sisters to meet strangers. And of course I wouldn’t want to introduce you all suddenly into society—I imagine it would be overwhelming.
Jo said nothing.
I thought perhaps I could inquire if there are families with suitable sons, and have a few of them come calling. It’s quieter that way—more civilized.
He meant that this way, no one would bear witness to the twelve failed heirs of Joseph Hamilton.
She wondered if he planned to marry them off a few at a time, so society might never know how many of them there were—a dozen young men whose wives were unconnected, invisible except for a wedding portrait on the mantel and a ladies’ maid upstairs.
What would make a man suitable?
she asked, as calmly as she could.
He glanced up at her. That’s my concern.
She felt as if the floor was buckling under her. She made fists in her lap.
(If she struck him, they’d all suffer.)
Naturally,
he said, I’d like to speak to the girls myself on the matter, as it becomes necessary, and I’ll be asking you for insight about them. You’re the eldest, and know them best, so if they’re too shy to tell me something, you’d know.
He half-smiled, tapped the paper with his fingertips. I wish my daughters to be happy.
Of course,
said Jo.
• • • • • •
The third floor was silent as Jo climbed the stairs.
The three girls’ rooms on this floor had their doors closed just as Jo had taught them, but no one was behind them, and the library was empty.
The fourth floor was a different hush—the quiet of a waiting crowd.
As she reached the landing, Jo saw Mattie’s dark head disappear from the doorway to Jo and Lou’s room.
Everyone was inside, then, and waiting.
Mattie hissed, She’s coming!
and before Mattie had finished Ella was already asking, What’s happened?
like Jo might have another red palm print on her face.
Her bedroom looked like a holding cell. Nine of them were crammed on the beds, a patchwork of blond and brown. Mattie was standing lookout, and Lou was silhouetted in the window, her red hair catching the light, her empty cigarette holder clamped in her teeth.
Against the far wall, twelve pairs of worn-out dance shoes stood in a wobbly line, sleeping and waiting for night.
What’s happened?
Ella asked, looking straight at Jo.
Jo took a breath. There’s a line in the paper about groups of girls going out dancing at night.
Rose and Lily clasped hands.
Rebecca pushed her hair back. Is it us, for sure?
No. But Father’s worried enough about the rumor.
Does he suspect us?
asked Doris.
Jo wished there had been more stairs between the office and this room, so she could have planned a better speech. He might.
Violet leaned forward. She was young and still worried sometimes about their father, the way one worries about angering the bartender. What’s he going to do?
Father wants us to marry,
Jo said.
There was silence for a moment. Lou let out a whistling breath through her cigarette holder.
He wants to meet with each of you,
Jo said, to get to know you, so he can speak to his acquaintances and see which young man he likes best to suit each of you. There will be some dinner parties, to get to know the boys he’s chosen.
None of the girls laughed—not even Araminta, who had a habit of being romantic and absurd. They had all been sneaking out into the world long enough to know what sort of man wanted a captive bride, a girl that a father was handing out select. Men their father was choosing from among that sort, for reasons of his own.
Oh God,
Ella said finally, what will we do?
Jo had been calculating since the moment her father had spoken the word married
; all the way across the foyer, up the sets of winding stairs, she had been thinking what was to be done.
Unfortunately, the house wasn’t tall enough, and the cigar box with her savings in it wasn’t full enough, and the world wasn’t welcoming enough.
She had eleven sisters looking to her, and no good news to tell them.
Maybe one or two of the men their father picked would be better men than their father. It was all she could hope at the moment. She could hope that Rose and Lily, who were only sixteen, and Violet, only fourteen, would be allowed to wait a few years. Maybe Ella could stay and look after them, if they were careful about asking permission.
As for the rest, what could be done?
I’ll think of something,
Jo said.
All of them looked relieved except Lou, who was gnawing on her cigarette holder.
Let’s go out,
Ella said.
Too soon,
said Doris. They put out that article. They’ll be looking for us.
Let them,
said Hattie.
We’ll give them an earful,
finished Mattie.
Rebecca frowned. And if we end up in jail?
Better that than married off,
said Lou.
Rose and Lily turned identical faces to Jo. General?
Jo looked at them all, piled like birds on the beds: eleven girls in New York’s most refined prison.
She said, Cabs leave at midnight.
three
CHARLESTON BABY OF MINE
The Hamiltons were a family who passed wealthy
and fell short of storied,
in that twilight between the Social Register, in which they did not appear, and business interests that made them valuable.
If their son could have married into society, they might have been something; Mr. Hamilton’s marriage had been too obvious to vault him over the line, but it had edged him closer, and were one son, one canny marriage, one step from being officially known.
Joseph Hamilton’s business affairs were handled by a solicitor, their mail by an outside clerk, and their domestic affairs by a valet. These moneyed gestures caused no jealousy in the upper circles; since Joseph Hamilton didn’t come among them to flaunt his discretion, they forgave him his wealth.
Poor soul,
they said. Hamilton’s all business, you know. Hasn’t been to a party in years. Practically a recluse. They never were very grand.
This good grace served the Hamiltons well; society matrons never mentioned the fallen family who’d negotiated capital in exchange for the future Mrs. Hamilton.
(Mr. Hamilton had for once caught the wind, and when he bothered to go out, he kept his wife at home.)
The Hamiltons were so discreet that people were only sure of one child, Josephine, whose birth was announced in the Times. More slipped into the world unannounced—once in a while, someone’s nanny saw two girls coming from the Hamilton house—but it was impossible to tell how many there were, and after long enough, people stopped wondering.
There were so many—he was trying so hard for a son—and eventually it seemed gauche, tenement crowding in a respectable house. It would be an embarrassment to keep dragging them out into society like a magician with scarves.
(Mr. Hamilton could not have made use of his daughters as much as he could have of sons, but that was a subtler game that required savvy positioning on the field of play: more experience than he had, more tricks than his unlucky wife would have known.
He was a man of the old age, where daughers were meant to be retiring; he simply retired them.)
It was a shame, thought some of the sons who spent more than they should and could use some Hamilton money; it was wise, thought some of the fathers whose daughters had taken to smoking. Mothers were happiest. The girls would be married or not, mothers thought, and there was no need to ask questions and stir up extra young ladies; plenty of daughters needed marrying off without some Hamiltons dragging their dowries into it.
• • • • • •
No one ever told Jo about her family. All they told her was she must behave without question, because it was expected of her.
She heard some things. She knew they had money; she knew her mother was sad, and had been better off than this, once; she knew no one wanted to hear a word out of girls who were nothing but trouble.
She only saw her mother if her mother was well enough to come up to the fourth floor and smile and touch the tops of their heads as they stood, marveling.
She rarely was. (She was always sick, or made sick, or too sad to be well.) And on those visits she was pale, with dark circles around her eyes and lines drawn tight around her mouth, as if she’d been forbidden even to smile.
Jo believed it of her. Jo felt sorry for her. But Jo never ran for her like Lou and Ella did.
Jo guessed even then that Mother’s purpose was to have a son, and she was kept from all other causes.
Them included.
The impression spread. At last, even Ella gave up running when she came, as if their mother was a bad penny. (Jo regretted it—their mother’s face in that long moment before Ella broke down and went to embrace her.)
If only she’d have a boy already, Jo thought when she was feeling cruel. One son would be the end of all this trouble.
One son, and perhaps their father would be pleased enough to let her smile, or speak, or speak for them.
Every time her mother was confined, Jo thought, This will free her; this time, for sure, it will be a boy.
But beds kept filling their bedrooms, so it never was.
• • • • • •
Soon there were four. Then six. The rooms on the upper floors filled and filled.
Jo was almost ten and felt years older, surrounded by her mother’s children.
Lou, nearly eight, was a little flame, from her copper hair to her bloodcurdling shrieks. Six-year-old Ella was as placid as their mother, the same golden hair and water-pale eyes. Doris, hardly old enough to have a mind (five years old—a baby), followed Lou with a frown, playing at the edges of Lou’s puzzles, screaming when Lou screamed.
You must take care of your sisters,
the nannies said, and Jo always said, All right,
without knowing what they meant.
They needed no care. They were always at home. The governess came for lessons, and their clothes came by catalog, and they had the attic if they wanted to leave their rooms. There was nothing for Jo to do but watch them coming and going, and worry.
They went out in pairs with a nanny for walks and air, past a museum they never went into, but there was no call for them to play outside, or meet other girls, or go in a crowd, or see the city.
If you misbehave outside, would you like to tell your father why you’ve been so bad?
the nannies said, or, There are wolves in this city who eat wicked girls.
As they grew older, it was the nannies’ insistence, and not their stories, that frightened the girls, and fear won out.
Some terrors were fiction; some were not.
There were no monsters in the streets, but if they misbehaved, their father would be angry.
They didn’t know quite what it meant, but whenever they asked their nannies what the punishment would be the nannies went silent, and the girls all knew that they must never, never cross their father.
• • • • • •
For Jo’s tenth birthday, her mother was in bed (a son, both nannies were praying), and her nanny was instructed to bring Jo to the theater to celebrate—after the lights went down, so they wouldn’t be noticed.
(Their mother, invisible as she was, sometimes effected little intercessions in strange places, where their father could be most easily convinced it didn’t matter.)
At the opera house, Jo sat forward, her head on her folded hands along the balcony. The nanny frowned.
If you’re tired,
she said, we’ll go home.
But Jo was the farthest from sleep she’d ever been, sitting in the uncomfortable plush seat, feeling the violins under her hands, the rumble of voices floating up from the figures onstage, who did this and that wild thing, and pretended to love one another.
And in between grand gestures, there were parties, and dancers took the stage.
It was a reel in the second act, and a waltz in the third, a half-open embrace, the women grasping their skirts in