Three young wives, close as sisters and profoundly intertwined in each other’s shifting lives, finding their ways during the dangerous and unpredictable days of 1920’s Chicago.
Written from each of the three main characters’ points of view, Rachel mourns the loss of her younger days and the exhilarating nights of her past, struggling with an aching belief that she has evolved into nothing more than a middling mother and lonely policeman’s wife. Hannah strives to succeed professionally where women are few and highly undervalued, torn between the expected roles of yesteryear, and what she aims to become. Bit, trusting and use to letting others control the reins in her carefree life, she learns just a little too late that Curtis, the man she married, is enmeshed with city mobsters and presents a threat to each and every one of them.
Each young woman finds herself on a road to find her unique place and to hold onto what she needs, although what she finds may not be exactly what she was looking for.
Rachel finds herself doubting her role as a mother, frequently finding herself home alone with a busy toddler, waiting on a husband who is in the line of fire on the perilous streets of Chicago that are growing ever more lethal with each passing day. She pines for the jazz and gin fueled nights of yesteryear when the girls held a robe of anonymity over themselves amongst the dark corners of the city’s insidious underground speakeasies. Her husband, Alton, is a highly moral policeman with a dangerous daily life which leaves her alone, all too frequently, to raise their toddler son.
Hannah is stretched thin on a journey for success in a world where women found professional advancement elusive, as she straddles the line between a career and the family who need her. Striving for success in the rapidly emerging textiles and ready-to-wear fashion industry, she finds herself torn between her career and her expected, and important, role at home with her husband, Ben, and mother-in-law, Rose, whose health is swiftly deteriorating.
Bit is a new bride, naive and always cared for by her family and friends, never a thought that things won’t be made to go her untroubled way. She discovers that life isn’t always so simple and, when she finds herself in a marriage that is proving to be increasingly dangerous, she learns that she, alone, must pull herself out to survive.
Antagonistic force:
The novel opens with Bit and Curtis’s wedding, during which Rachel and her strait-lace cop husband, Alton, discover the groom’s burgeoning career with eastside mob boss, Dean O’Banion.
The newlyweds, having had a whirlwind trip to the altar, begin to learn more about each other, including Curtis’s younger years, entrenched in insecurities and strife. These things create a controlling nature that bleeds heavily into the emergence of a volatile and abusive marriage. What she slowly learns of her new husband proves to be worrisome, growing more disturbing as the months progress.
Curtis is threatened by his new bride’s friends, especially the husband’s watchful ways over his new wife. Concerns grow about his criminal career and what he may be hiding from his bride when Curtis’s dangerous career path seems to catch up to him and he is found murdered. Was it the inevitable outcome of a mobster hitman’s risky life, or something deeper?
Breakout title ideas:
The Piece She Found
The title I have chosen is both figurative and literal. Each of my three main characters are on a journey (and ultimately discover) a figurative piece that they each are missing. These “pieces” bring them safety, certitude, and peace in their respective lives.
The literal “piece” comes in the form of an item found, unearthing the truth behind Curtis’s death, an unlikely reason, and sacrifices made.
Genre:
Although I first would have categorized my novel as historical fiction, as it highlights a significant amount of true history of 1920’s Chicago, including organized crime, and the issues facing many young women during the 20’s era, I believe it best qualifies as cross-genre fiction. It would best be described as historical fiction with a strong element of suspense.
Comparable novels:
1.The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton
2.The Paris Dressmaker: A Novel of WWII, by Kristy Cambron
3.Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
I would use The Secret Keeper and The Paris Dressmaker as comparable novels from, mainly, the historical detail and the “keep you on the edge of your seat” aspect. Each of them leaves you with a sense of gaining something of the time and place in which the novels were set. The building of the relationships, and the murder that subsequently occurs, is why I would use Where the Crawdads Sing as a comparable novel.
Hook-line:
Three young women, forging their way during unsure and dangerous days that threaten each of their futures in countless ways. Plucked from the era of jazz and booze-filled speakeasies, THE PIECE SHE FOUND, strikes to the heart of our vital friendships, dangerous relationships and the length that one might go to for someone they love.
Conflict:
The uncovering of Curtis’s position in Chicago’s underground crime scene creates conflict for each character in the novel. An obvious opposition is the relationship between Curtis and Rachel’s husband, Alton, a strait-laced city cop who knowns all too well the dangers this presents to each of them.
Hannah’s husband, Ben, grew up with Bit and feels a strong sense of responsibility in helping to look after her after her mother, who worked for his family, passed away. His regrets of past failures drive this feeling even further and bring him in an emotional battle with Curtis.
As Curtis and Bit’s marriage grows abusive and Bit learns she is pregnant, the conflict between them is heightened. Bit struggles to stand up to protect not just herself, but to protect her child. This is something she must learn before it is too late and something she must find within herself.
An excerpt from my novel highlighting the last conflict:
I could see the sky was lit with sunset when I heard the key turn in the lock of our front door. I must have been asleep for hours. I could hear Curtis’s dense footsteps as they trailed towards where I lay.
“You’ve been asleep this whole time! Have you looked at this house?” Curtis slurred, “It is a disaster. I work like a dog and you’re just here asleep. The whole time I am gone, running rum all the way from Canada, seeing things you couldn’t even imagine in your privileged little life, and you just lay here like some kinda’ princess.”
I sat up, staring at him quizzingly, taking in the sickening smell of whiskey and cigarettes on his breath as he leaned over me blowing smoke out as he coughed inches from my face.
“Oh, you didn’t really know that there, did you? Running rum all over the land just so you and those uppity pals of yours can have yourselves a damn daiquiri in some fancy joint. You know what I have to do to make that all happen? No?” He cocked his head at me, “Do you know?” Curtis was swaying back and forth, clearly drunk as he rambled on, loud enough for even the neighbors to hear. Leaning closer to me, he asked me again, “DO YOU KNOW?” he spit at me.
“No, I don’t,” I peeped, fear growing in me as I gaped at a man I could barely recognize.
“Well, let me tell you,” He waved his arms spinning around and nearly losing his balance, “I get to see good ol’ Hymie rub out some mick and I get to dig the unground coffin for this punk.”
A gasp escaped me, and my hand flew over my mouth.
Curtis laughed, eyes wild, “Yup, turns out lots of fellas get to take that one-way ride when they hop in an automobile with us, little lady.”
“Curtis, quit your job, please, you don’t have to do this,” I said quietly, “Please.”
“Haaa, no way, sweetheart. You know how much sugar I am banking? You think I’d make this much slaving away at some shop? Being a stupid copper? No WAY! Anyway, that ain’t quite how that works. No just quittin’this job,” he took another long drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke at my face, again, “You should see those dipshits, begging for their pathetic little lives,” he laughed, “But, they come to learn the important lesson. You know what that lesson is, princess?”
I shook my head, looking down at the kitten on my lap, clearly frightened, “No.”
“You just can’t argue with a tommy gun,” he said, plucking Jo from my lap and pretending to shoot, Jo his make-believe gun, “Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,” jolting the kitten who looked so tiny in Curtis’s large hand.
Setting:
The setting of my novel is a tremendous portion of the story which I have woven into every chapter and aspect of each character’s lives. I’ve always had a fascination with history and find historical novels are those that I am most drawn to.
Although a few chapters focus on New York City, the large majority of my novel is based in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago during the 1920’s was an almost electric setting, a time of growing unease, crime and violence in a city in the throes of a newly emerging America. I highlight the budding department stores and hidden speakeasies, as well as the historical restaurants and places overrun by the organized crime groups in many areas of the city.
I attempted to stitch in the places in which each character lives as an almost living force, giving the reader feelings of comfort, ease, or constraining undertones, depending on the character. This was something I always esteemed in Hitchcock’s work and strived to pull into my novel to give depth to both the storyline and each character.
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Story statement:
Three young wives, close as sisters and profoundly intertwined in each other’s shifting lives, finding their ways during the dangerous and unpredictable days of 1920’s Chicago.
Written from each of the three main characters’ points of view, Rachel mourns the loss of her younger days and the exhilarating nights of her past, struggling with an aching belief that she has evolved into nothing more than a middling mother and lonely policeman’s wife. Hannah strives to succeed professionally where women are few and highly undervalued, torn between the expected roles of yesteryear, and what she aims to become. Bit, trusting and use to letting others control the reins in her carefree life, she learns just a little too late that Curtis, the man she married, is enmeshed with city mobsters and presents a threat to each and every one of them.
Each young woman finds herself on a road to find her unique place and to hold onto what she needs, although what she finds may not be exactly what she was looking for.
Rachel finds herself doubting her role as a mother, frequently finding herself home alone with a busy toddler, waiting on a husband who is in the line of fire on the perilous streets of Chicago that are growing ever more lethal with each passing day. She pines for the jazz and gin fueled nights of yesteryear when the girls held a robe of anonymity over themselves amongst the dark corners of the city’s insidious underground speakeasies. Her husband, Alton, is a highly moral policeman with a dangerous daily life which leaves her alone, all too frequently, to raise their toddler son.
Hannah is stretched thin on a journey for success in a world where women found professional advancement elusive, as she straddles the line between a career and the family who need her. Striving for success in the rapidly emerging textiles and ready-to-wear fashion industry, she finds herself torn between her career and her expected, and important, role at home with her husband, Ben, and mother-in-law, Rose, whose health is swiftly deteriorating.
Bit is a new bride, naive and always cared for by her family and friends, never a thought that things won’t be made to go her untroubled way. She discovers that life isn’t always so simple and, when she finds herself in a marriage that is proving to be increasingly dangerous, she learns that she, alone, must pull herself out to survive.
Antagonistic force:
The novel opens with Bit and Curtis’s wedding, during which Rachel and her strait-lace cop husband, Alton, discover the groom’s burgeoning career with eastside mob boss, Dean O’Banion.
The newlyweds, having had a whirlwind trip to the altar, begin to learn more about each other, including Curtis’s younger years, entrenched in insecurities and strife. These things create a controlling nature that bleeds heavily into the emergence of a volatile and abusive marriage. What she slowly learns of her new husband proves to be worrisome, growing more disturbing as the months progress.
Curtis is threatened by his new bride’s friends, especially the husband’s watchful ways over his new wife. Concerns grow about his criminal career and what he may be hiding from his bride when Curtis’s dangerous career path seems to catch up to him and he is found murdered. Was it the inevitable outcome of a mobster hitman’s risky life, or something deeper?
Breakout title ideas:
The Piece She Found
The title I have chosen is both figurative and literal. Each of my three main characters are on a journey (and ultimately discover) a figurative piece that they each are missing. These “pieces” bring them safety, certitude, and peace in their respective lives.
The literal “piece” comes in the form of an item found, unearthing the truth behind Curtis’s death, an unlikely reason, and sacrifices made.
Genre:
Although I first would have categorized my novel as historical fiction, as it highlights a significant amount of true history of 1920’s Chicago, including organized crime, and the issues facing many young women during the 20’s era, I believe it best qualifies as cross-genre fiction. It would best be described as historical fiction with a strong element of suspense.
Comparable novels:
1. The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton
2. The Paris Dressmaker: A Novel of WWII, by Kristy Cambron
3. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
I would use The Secret Keeper and The Paris Dressmaker as comparable novels from, mainly, the historical detail and the “keep you on the edge of your seat” aspect. Each of them leaves you with a sense of gaining something of the time and place in which the novels were set. The building of the relationships, and the murder that subsequently occurs, is why I would use Where the Crawdads Sing as a comparable novel.
Hook-line:
Three young women, forging their way during unsure and dangerous days that threaten each of their futures in countless ways. Plucked from the era of jazz and booze-filled speakeasies, THE PIECE SHE FOUND, strikes to the heart of our vital friendships, dangerous relationships and the length that one might go to for someone they love.
Conflict:
The uncovering of Curtis’s position in Chicago’s underground crime scene creates conflict for each character in the novel. An obvious opposition is the relationship between Curtis and Rachel’s husband, Alton, a strait-laced city cop who knowns all too well the dangers this presents to each of them.
Hannah’s husband, Ben, grew up with Bit and feels a strong sense of responsibility in helping to look after her after her mother, who worked for his family, passed away. His regrets of past failures drive this feeling even further and bring him in an emotional battle with Curtis.
As Curtis and Bit’s marriage grows abusive and Bit learns she is pregnant, the conflict between them is heightened. Bit struggles to stand up to protect not just herself, but to protect her child. This is something she must learn before it is too late and something she must find within herself.
An excerpt from my novel highlighting the last conflict:
I could see the sky was lit with sunset when I heard the key turn in the lock of our front door. I must have been asleep for hours. I could hear Curtis’s dense footsteps as they trailed towards where I lay.
“You’ve been asleep this whole time! Have you looked at this house?” Curtis slurred, “It is a disaster. I work like a dog and you’re just here asleep. The whole time I am gone, running rum all the way from Canada, seeing things you couldn’t even imagine in your privileged little life, and you just lay here like some kinda’ princess.”
I sat up, staring at him quizzingly, taking in the sickening smell of whiskey and cigarettes on his breath as he leaned over me blowing smoke out as he coughed inches from my face.
“Oh, you didn’t really know that there, did you? Running rum all over the land just so you and those uppity pals of yours can have yourselves a damn daiquiri in some fancy joint. You know what I have to do to make that all happen? No?” He cocked his head at me, “Do you know?” Curtis was swaying back and forth, clearly drunk as he rambled on, loud enough for even the neighbors to hear. Leaning closer to me, he asked me again, “DO YOU KNOW?” he spit at me.
“No, I don’t,” I peeped, fear growing in me as I gaped at a man I could barely recognize.
“Well, let me tell you,” He waved his arms spinning around and nearly losing his balance, “I get to see good ol’ Hymie rub out some mick and I get to dig the unground coffin for this punk.”
A gasp escaped me, and my hand flew over my mouth.
Curtis laughed, eyes wild, “Yup, turns out lots of fellas get to take that one-way ride when they hop in an automobile with us, little lady.”
“Curtis, quit your job, please, you don’t have to do this,” I said quietly, “Please.”
“Haaa, no way, sweetheart. You know how much sugar I am banking? You think I’d make this much slaving away at some shop? Being a stupid copper? No WAY! Anyway, that ain’t quite how that works. No just quittin’this job,” he took another long drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke at my face, again, “You should see those dipshits, begging for their pathetic little lives,” he laughed, “But, they come to learn the important lesson. You know what that lesson is, princess?”
I shook my head, looking down at the kitten on my lap, clearly frightened, “No.”
“You just can’t argue with a tommy gun,” he said, plucking Jo from my lap and pretending to shoot, Jo his make-believe gun, “Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,” jolting the kitten who looked so tiny in Curtis’s large hand.
Setting:
The setting of my novel is a tremendous portion of the story which I have woven into every chapter and aspect of each character’s lives. I’ve always had a fascination with history and find historical novels are those that I am most drawn to.
Although a few chapters focus on New York City, the large majority of my novel is based in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago during the 1920’s was an almost electric setting, a time of growing unease, crime and violence in a city in the throes of a newly emerging America. I highlight the budding department stores and hidden speakeasies, as well as the historical restaurants and places overrun by the organized crime groups in many areas of the city.
I attempted to stitch in the places in which each character lives as an almost living force, giving the reader feelings of comfort, ease, or constraining undertones, depending on the character. This was something I always esteemed in Hitchcock’s work and strived to pull into my novel to give depth to both the storyline and each character.