Craze
It’s the roaring ´20s in New York City, and art critic Henrietta “Henri” Adams has landed a new job as a journalist for New World Art magazine, thanks to a letter of introduction from Ernest Hemingway. By day, Henri blends in with her binary-dominated job, wearing skirts and blouses, but at night, she explores the speakeasies of Manhattan as a suited dagger with her cohort, Crystal, a drag queen and expert on all things to do with fashion and underground protocol. Having spent time in Paris, Henri can’t help but compare the gender-fluid city of love to the queer-crazed Prohibition-era Big Apple. Regardless, she dives into the deep end when she attends the Hamilton Lodge Drag Ball, where her love life suddenly escalates.
Written and researched masterfully by Margaret Vandenburg, an academic lecturer on gender studies, readers are introduced to a little known but catalytic era in LGBTQIA+ American history. Famous historical icons are brought to life on the page, such as Gladys Bentley, Charles Demuth, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Readers will be intrigued to expand their knowledge of other notable figures, such as Natalie Barney, A’Lelia Walker, and Lady Troubridge. This exciting feminist dip into history entertains as much as it inspires, reminding readers that equality and freedom must be relentlessly insisted upon.
