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I Love Vaudeville
Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit follows a Vaudeville performer whose 7-year-old daughter goes missing one night and his search for her. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I was interested in the world of vaudeville and its traveling entertainers, almost vagabonds, since I first read the book GYPSY by Gypsy Rose Lee as a child. Gypsy and her little sister grew up in vaudeville. It was intriguing to learn that there were children who had been free of going to school and spent their childhoods entertaining, and I wanted to write about a father who was on the road with his daughters. It’s the 1920s, so I made the father, Avram, who changed his name to August, the child of immigrants, with all the resilient bravado that those who came to this country brought with them. The premise for this book popped into my head one day as I was outside drinking a coffee by the rose bushes in my backyard, and I ran right inside to start the book.
Why choose this place and time for the setting of the story? What do you find so fascinating about the Roaring 1920s?
As I said, I love the whole idea of the world of vaudeville, and the 1920s always struck me as a wonderful time. It was my grandparents’ era. I grew up listening to show tunes and also the bouncy, optimistic songs of the 1920s, loved them then and love them yet. World War I had ended. The members of the armed forces who survived returned home wanting to forget it and have a good time. It’s just an amazing decade, or it was until it ended with a crash and burn in 1929, and I put the story right in the middle of it, 1925. I also had to put the story during a time when vaudeville was still alive and well. It was in 1925, but its demise was coming.
Do you think there’s a single moment in everyone’s life, maybe not as traumatic, that is life-changing?
Oh, definitely, yes! August La May kind of “wakes up” when his younger child goes missing. Up until then, he’s not naive or anything, but he’s a lot more trusting of the world around him until that happens. After that, as we say in Brooklyn, “Forget about it!” He’s older and wiser, fast.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I work on several at a time. At the moment, I’m not sure which one I’ll finish next, but there’s a bunch of them in the works. The genre I love the most is cozy mysteries like this one!
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But four years after Violetta left, all might not be well. August is sure he sees Violetta on the theater ticket line in Chicago. Later that day, seven-year-old Florabelle goes missing on the way to the stage from her dressing room. Is this a coincidence? Has Violetta really returned for only one of her daughters, or has someone else in vaudeville taken the talented child? Who, among the many rather irregular folks in show business, might have done this? August and his other daughter, savvy little April, keep touring the theaters of America, determined to find out. Where then, in the space of the entire country, could Florabelle possibly be?
Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit
In Carolyn Summer Quinn’s poignant novel, Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit, we are introduced to August La May, a dedicated Vaudeville performer and loving father of two enchanting girls, Florabelle and April. The story unfolds when August thinks he sees his long-lost partner and the mother of his children, Violetta, after four years of abandonment at a Nebraska theater. August grapples with whether or not it was Violetta and, if so, what will it mean to him and his daughters.
Set in the backdrop of 1920s America, the novel follows August’s relentless quest to find his missing daughter, praying for an elusive reunion. However, the journey is fraught with challenges as August, and his family face societal prejudices against performers like them, viewed with suspicion and mistrust. The reader is left pondering, along with August, how will he ever locate them.
Quinn skillfully crafts a close-knit family dynamic between August and April La May, a father-daughter duo whose unwavering support for one another sustains their hope even in the bleakest circumstances. The resolute spirit of the La Mays united against a world seemingly against them evokes a heartfelt emotional response from any reader. Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit succeeds in gripping its audience with a compelling plot. The narrative, primarily told through August La May’s perspective, is filled with slang from the 1920s, adding to the book’s authentic feel. The book’s central themes of family bonds, heartache, and determination remain powerful and engaging, urging readers to accompany August and April La May on their poignant journey to find the elusive Florabelle, whose disappearance has left a void in their vaudeville world.
Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit by Carolyn Summer Quinn contains emotional depth and a captivating plot making it a worthwhile read for anyone seeking a tale of perseverance and the unbreakable ties of family.
Pages: 200 | ASIN : B0C7MLMV26
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