Twelve titles on the dark side of the Jazz Age

Born in Chicago and a graduate of the University of Michigan, Nancy Bilyeau moved to New York City to work in the magazine business as a writer and editor. After working for publications ranging from Rolling Stone to Good Housekeeping, she turned to fiction. She wrote the Joanna Stafford trilogy, a trio of thrillers set in Henry VIII’s England, for Touchstone/Simon & Schuster. Her fourth novel is The Blue, an 18th-century thriller revolving around the art & porcelain world. Her latest novel, The Orchid Hour, returns to the early 20th century New York City of her novel Dreamland to once again tell a story of suspense revolving around a compelling heroine.

[My Book, The Movie: The Tapestry; Writers Read: Nancy Bilyeau (February 2012)]

At CrimeReads Bilyeau tagged twelve "books that look at the grit beneath the glamour of the 1920s," including:

Shrines of Gaiety, by Kate Atkinson

While there was no Prohibition in Great Britain, nightclubs flourished and set the scene for the country’s own version of the Jazz Age, with celebrants desperate to escape their memories of the Great War. The most fascinating character is nightlife queen Nellie Coker–inspired by the famed 1920s club owner Kate Meyrick—but there are many other compelling characters in this gorgeously written novel that some critics have dubbed “Dickensian.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue