The Gallery: Book Soundtrack
By Laura Marx Fitzgerald
My new art mystery, The Gallery, is about heiresses, mythologies, poisonings, pomegranates, heists, dumbwaiters, bombings, anarchists, stock manipulation, and art, of course.
And a party. One heck of a party.
Imagine Jay Gatsby and John D. Rockefeller decided to have a few friends over, and asked P.T. Barnum to provide the entertainment.
Inspired by an actual circus-themed party thrown by gossip columnist and socialite, Elsa Maxwell, this wild night brings together New York City’s biggest names, from Wall Street to Broadway to Coney Island.
Imagine a party where bearded ladies rub shoulders with Mrs. Astor, and trapeze artists swing above a dancing Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Babe Ruth passes out under the piano and Charlie Chaplin loses a bet to a sword swallower. Limitless drinks float by on silver trays of “high balls, low balls, flutes, coupes, and tulips”—never mind Prohibition.
And of course, jazz is the soundtrack of the night.
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The playlist I’ve put together recreates the events of the evening, as I imagined it:
A sixteen-piece jazz orchestra warms up the crowd with the latest chart toppers.
After some light encouragement, Cole Porter performs two of his saucier compositions.
Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson have been lined up as the night’s official entertainment (with our protagonist’s father fictional vaudeville piece between them).
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Duke Ellington surprises the crowd and commandeers the orchestra, starting with slow blues and then whipping the crowd into a frenzy with the “hottest” jazz in town.
Tune in, and turn back the clock . . .
Thanks to Laura Marx Fitzgerald for sharing some amazing music with us. The Gallery is now available wherever books are sold. Continue The Gallery blog tour this week at the sites below.
July 12th – Word Spelunking
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July 13th – The O.W.L.
July 14th – The Reading Nook Reviews
July 15th – Margie’s Must Reads
July 16th – Mundie Moms
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