Scan barcode
A review by marilynw
Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird
3.0
Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird
Evie Grace Devlin had a sad upbringing. After her beloved father died when she was young, Evie was left at the mercy of a cruel, heartless mother. Her parents had made their living through vaudeville performances and once Evie's dad was dead her mother used Evie almost with no restrictions on what Evie was asked to do. If it brought in money, mom was happy to push Evie into darker performances.
At seventeen Evie breaks away and excels at three years of nursing school, in Galveston, only to have her success pulled out from under her on the day of her nursing school graduation. At this point, I feel that Evie had enough confidence building success and time away from her brutally abusive mother that she wouldn't choose crawling back to her mother as her only option but that's what Evie does. Thank goodness, once she's back in Houston, rather than finding her mother, she finds work as a nurse for a dance marathon outfit. Not only does Evie work as a nurse but also fills in as a dancer.
This is 1932 and dance marathons were the rage. The marathons provided food, shelter, and cash prizes in a time when so many people were suffering from few ways to survive during the hard times. I had no idea of the hardships involved in dance marathoning and how much a nurse would be needed to keep contestants on their feet. Dance marathoning was no walk in the park!
As much as I wished the best for Evie, I had trouble staying with the story. Evie makes such rash and unwise decisions that I just stopped caring what would happen next. There is too much to the story, too many characters who come and go, too many things going on, and once again, Evie making decisions that are wrong headed and confounding to me. This book did have me looking further into the dance marathons of the past, which I enjoyed.
Publication: April 12, 2022
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
Evie Grace Devlin had a sad upbringing. After her beloved father died when she was young, Evie was left at the mercy of a cruel, heartless mother. Her parents had made their living through vaudeville performances and once Evie's dad was dead her mother used Evie almost with no restrictions on what Evie was asked to do. If it brought in money, mom was happy to push Evie into darker performances.
At seventeen Evie breaks away and excels at three years of nursing school, in Galveston, only to have her success pulled out from under her on the day of her nursing school graduation. At this point, I feel that Evie had enough confidence building success and time away from her brutally abusive mother that she wouldn't choose crawling back to her mother as her only option but that's what Evie does. Thank goodness, once she's back in Houston, rather than finding her mother, she finds work as a nurse for a dance marathon outfit. Not only does Evie work as a nurse but also fills in as a dancer.
This is 1932 and dance marathons were the rage. The marathons provided food, shelter, and cash prizes in a time when so many people were suffering from few ways to survive during the hard times. I had no idea of the hardships involved in dance marathoning and how much a nurse would be needed to keep contestants on their feet. Dance marathoning was no walk in the park!
As much as I wished the best for Evie, I had trouble staying with the story. Evie makes such rash and unwise decisions that I just stopped caring what would happen next. There is too much to the story, too many characters who come and go, too many things going on, and once again, Evie making decisions that are wrong headed and confounding to me. This book did have me looking further into the dance marathons of the past, which I enjoyed.
Publication: April 12, 2022
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.