Queenpin
Book description
By the author of Dare Me and The End of Everything
A young woman hired to keep the books at a down-at-the-heels nightclub is taken under the wing of the infamous Gloria Denton, a mob luminary who reigned during the Golden Era of Bugsy Siegel and Lucky Luciano. Notoriously cunning…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Queenpin as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
One of Megan Abbott’s early gems, this book dragged me down into the muck of midcentury noir, and I LOVED IT. When I was first diving into the genre of noir, I was aching for more female representation (besides the evil femme fatale or the Girl Friday you see pop up in so much of the classic noir literature).
This book feels both modern and like a throwback, with women in the driver’s seat for once. This is a book I reread when I need a boost as a writer to remember why I love writing and why I love…
From Halley's list on female-driven noir novels.
Megan Abbott writes traditional, contemporary crime fiction, but also occasionally takes a deep and dark dive into the pulpy past. Of the latter, this is where I come in.
This book uses noirish tropes and writing traditions–whip-smart dialogue, 1940s American slang and settings, femmes fatale, gangsters, speakeasies, heists, double-crosses, all soaked through with hard liquor–but puts a twist on the old formula by having women as the central characters.
In this, a young, unnamed ingenue is taken under the wing of Gloria Denton, a mob boss. The young woman wants to be somebody, and boy, Gloria Denton, is the somebody…
From T.R.'s list on broken heroes.
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