All for a Story

Starred review from October 1, 2013
Monica Brisbane will do anything for a story. Writing Capitol Chatter's trendy gossip column, Monkey Business, as Monkey, she spends her evenings incognito in Washington D.C.'s speakeasies. Max Moore is editor-in-chief for a popular, powerful, and sometimes scandalous magazine owned by his uncle and overseen by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. When his uncle dies, leaving Max Capitol Chatter, he parts ways with the spiritual media sensation. While Max is deciding the fate of Capitol Chatter, a gangster and two armed thugs appear at his staff meeting, threatening bodily harmand moreif Monica ever comes near one of his clubs, let alone does a story about it. Max decides to redirect the focus of the paper and instructs Monica to infiltrate the Anti-Flirt Society, a tough assignment for a modern gal who loves the speakeasy culture. Pittman (All for a Song, 2013) handily captures the societal extremes during the Jazz Age, and her focus on the roles of women, from demure traditionalists to the influential McPherson and the modern woman, adds a nuanced level of conflict to this entertaining novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)