Not exactly foxy

Gloria Carmody is tired of her reputation as a good society girl. She wants to break free and try something new, exciting, and dangerous. Lucky for her, she lives in 1923 Chicago, where the flapper style of life is going strong. Unfortunately, her conservative fiance thinks women should be seen and not heard. Her best friend Lorraine wants to break free from her own constraints - to come out of Gloria's shadow and make pretty boy Marcus stand up and take notice. And Gloria's cousin Clara has the opposite problem: a former flapper, she no longer wants to be associated with her past. Funny thing is, this makes Gloria and Lorraine reluctant to associate with her. All three girls are pulled to a hidden speakeasy, the Green Mill, for different reasons - a new love, a confrontation, a different scene. But they are all looking for a new lease on life, and they find it with the men who turn their lives upside-down.

I can't really muster up a lot of passion for this book one way or the other, so this will be kind of a vague review. Melodramatic and without much flair, this book doesn't have a lot of bite to it. Most of the time, I didn't believe the characters' motivation; for example, I found it hard to believe that Clara, the one character with attitude, was really satisfied with basically taking Gloria's place as queen of the high society hill. Lorraine's story was just another "jealous best friend" cliche that didn't pay off until much later on. That said, I liked a few things here: Gloria embarks on an interracial relationship and develops some depth, and she and Clara eventually find common ground. The prose is sometimes almost lyrical and inspired, and the descriptions of clothes and fabrics and make-up is typical of this book's kind (if you genuinely love 1920's fashion, you can't go wrong here). There is a hook at the very end that pretty much ties everything up, even though it's set up for a sequel.

The story feels jumbled together in some parts and slow-as-molasses in others, but as superficial reads go, it has its moments. Rating: 3 bobbed hairdos out of 5.