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Title details for Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird - Available

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier

A Novel

by Sarah Bird
Cassandra Campbell
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available

Set during the Great Depression, Sarah Bird's Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a novel about one woman—and a nation—struggling to be reborn from the ashes.
July 3. 1932. Shivering and in shock, Evie Grace Devlin watches the Starlite Palace burn into the sea and wonders how she became a person who would cause a man to kill himself. She'd come to Galveston to escape a dark past in vaudeville and become a good person, a nurse. When that dream is cruelly thwarted, Evie is swept into the alien world of dance marathons. All that she has been denied—a family, a purpose, even love—waits for her there in the place she dreads most: the spotlight.
Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a sweeping novel that brings to spectacular life the enthralling worlds of both dance marathons and the family-run empire of vice that was Galveston in the Thirties. Unforgettable characters tell a story that is still deeply resonant today as America learns what Evie learns, that there truly isn't anything this country can't do when we do it together. That indomitable spirit powers a story that is a testament to the deep well of resilience in us all that allows us to not only survive the hardest of hard times, but to find joy, friends, and even family, in them.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 12, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781250836632
      • File size: 399268 KB
      • Duration: 13:51:48

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 21, 2022
      Bird’s immersive latest (after Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen) dives into the gritty world of the Depression-era dance marathon craze. In 1932, all 21-year-old Evie Grace Devlin wants is to become a registered nurse. But she’s denied graduation and the coveted RN pin from a Catholic nursing school in Galveston, Tex., after revelations surface about her past as a vaudeville performer. While in Houston visiting her mother, Evie stops in to watch a marathon competition that pits locals against professional dancers. There, she treats the sprained ankle of star pro dancer Zave Cassidy, and when the promoter sees Evie dance, he pairs her with Zave, to the delight of the audience. Evie stays with the show because she needs the money and time to figure out how to get her nursing pin. Plus she and Zave have fallen in love. His reluctance to get married stems from his conviction that, despite his best intentions, he’ll make a poor husband. A disaster during a dance forces Evie to reevaluate her plans and to confront the inadequacies of modern medicine. The author brings her spunky heroine to vivid life amid the atmospheric setting. Bird’s finely crafted novel is sure to delight. Agent: Kristine Dahl, ICM Partners.

    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2022

      Bird's (Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen) latest, superbly narrated by Cassandra Campbell, is set in 1930s Galveston, TX, amid the Great Depression. Attempting to get away from her mother and bury her sordid past as a vaudeville performer, Evie Devlin applies to nursing school. At graduation, she is unfairly denied her RN pin, so she returns to the entertainment world and uses her nursing skills to tend to injured marathon dancers. There, she meets handsome Zave, whom she pairs with during a dance marathon to raise money for the faltering troupe. Evie and Zave fall in fall in love, and it is then that Evie learns his dark secret. The two head to Galveston, looking for happiness, but find disaster. With a cast of colorful characters, Campbell fleshes all vocally with aplomb, allowing listeners to hear how Evie's na�vet� disappears as she becomes worldly-wise and how Zave gains his long-sought self-confidence. The pacing is on target, especially during the fire at the Starlight Palace. VERDICT This gripping audio about dance marathons will have listeners wanting more.--Stephanie Bange

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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