Strings Attached

Starred review from January 17, 2011
The New York City mobster scene during the 1950s is vibrantly brought to life in this saga of a poor dancer who pays a high price for the breaks she gets. When the story opens, 17-year-old Kit Corrigan has left her Providence, R.I., family for the lights of Broadway and still has mixed feelings about her hotheaded ex-boyfriend, Billy, who has since joined the army. Then Kit receives an offer she can't refuse: become a snoop for Billy's gangster father in exchange for a much-needed Manhattan apartment and a nightclub gig. Kit almost immediately regrets her decision but is unable to prevent a future tainted by heartache, deception, and murder. Past tragedies suffered by Kit and her Irish-American family are artfully woven into the plot; if the book is a little slow-moving at first, National Book Award–winner Blundell (What I Saw and How I Lied) successfully constructs a complex web of intrigue that connects characters in unexpected ways. History and theater buffs will especially appreciate her attention to detail—Blundell again demonstrates she can turn out first-rate historical fiction. Ages 13–up.

Redheaded Kit Corrigan is a dancer with a dream who has fled her Providence, Rhode Island, family and her volatile sweetheart, Billy, to head for Broadway lights. Emma Galvin expertly depicts the exciting world of the theater in 1950s New York. The glamour of uptown nightclubs, the mystique of Greenwich Village, and the postwar optimism of young chorus girls play out against a background of the Korean War, Red scares, and nuclear foreboding. When Billy's father, who works for the Mafia, offers her a deal that could help Kit survive in the city, the plot takes a suspenseful turn. Galvin negotiates flashbacks and period details without ever losing the story's tension. At the end, Judy Blundell takes a curtain call to answer listeners' questions with warmth and charm. M.C.T. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine


joanne_s - This is a story about Kathleen Corrigan, nick named as Kit, who is a seventeen year old girl. Her mother died while giving birth to her, her brother and her sister who were triplets. They lived with their father and got a lot of help from their aunt Delia, who treated them as if they were her sons and daughters. Then, aunt Delia moved away and they didn’t know where she went from then on. Kit had a boyfriend named Billy, who gets angry and jealous with Kit and moves her away. He later enlisted in the army with Kit’s brother, Jamie. Kit later moved to New York City, being a showgirl/chorus girl and having barely enough to live. She met Nate Benedict, Billy’s father. He offered her clothes and an apartment that she didn’t have to pay. He told her that if she accepted what he offered, she would need to write to Billy, persuading him to return before he goes to the Korean War. She agreed after all because she still loved Billy and she needed an apartment. Nate Benedict gave her a hand to being a Lido doll and later asked her to do favors. While being at the apartment, the apartment revealed mysteries about the relationship between Nate Benedict and her aunt Delia. I really liked this character because she’s strong, beautiful and smart. This book contains mysteries, love, murder and surprises, and it is an astonishing book.