Book Review: The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine

The Girls at the Kingfisher Club was GREAT – I found it randomly while browsing through the Amazon “you might like” list at the end of some other book I can’t even recall… It is a clever recasting of the twelve dancing princesses fairy tale, set in Flapper-era New York. It features a cast of marvelous characters and a gloriously-imagined and -described setting. There is drama, excitement, suffering, redemption, non-redemption and my gracious goodness DANCING… Clear, straightforward prose that paints a crisp outline and fills it in with deliciously hazy yet oddly sharp details puts the icing on the proverbial cake (and sounds like an oxymoron, but is strangely apt).

As a teaser, here’s one of my favorite quotes:

He was like a song she’d heard years back, played again in a quiet room; there was no telling if the song was any good, or if she only remembered it fondly because of the person she’d been long ago, when she heard it first.

There is subtle magic here. The writing is as gorgeous as the setting, the tale will break your heart and surprise the hell out of you. The resilience of youth, the persistence of family, the strength of conviction all come shining through. Definitely check this one out!