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by Sarah-Jane Stratford
A striking novel from the acclaimed author of Radio Girls about two daring women who escape McCarthy-era Hollywood for London, where they find creative freedom and fight the injustices of the Red Scare.
Nineteen-fifties America is bright and full of promise, and Phoebe Adler, a New Yorker brimming with talent and ambition, is forging her way as the rarest of things: a female television writer in Hollywood. But fears of a growing Red Menace cloud the optimism, egged on by the hate-mongering of Senator McCarthy. A blacklist is created to cast out communist sympathizers, smashing careers and ruining lives. When Phoebe finds herself caught in the hysteria's web, she flees to London.
Though postwar London is struggling and work is precarious, Phoebe finds camaraderie with other Americans living in exile, including the restless and ambitious Hannah Wolfson. Determined to fight the injustices of the Red Scare, Hannah is a successful producer who hires blacklisted writers at great risk to her career and company.
Together Phoebe and Hannah successfully fight unfair bias and sexism, but danger still looms in this supposed sanctuary. And when their families and friends—their very lives—are threatened, they will have to make impossible choices.
"[A] thoroughly fascinating and too-little-known story of Hannah Weinstein and her role in supporting blacklisted Americans, regardless of gender or race." - Booklist (starred review)
"Phoebe's hair-raising escape from HUAC's condemnation offers a James Bond–like finish to Stratford's bracing adventure that effortlessly melds politics, romance, and history. This delivers on every level." - Publishers Weekly
"Well plotted and moving, with witty characters and an unnervingly timely storyline, Red Letter Days is smart, satisfying historical fiction at its best." - Shelf Awareness
"Red Letter Days is a look at a piece of American history told through the lens of two brave women, whose stories you won't soon forget." - PopSugar
"Stratford's novel effortlessly walks the line between hilarious and harrowing in her account of the tribulations of the victims of the blacklist – all told from a perspective that is unique and refreshing. And I simply adored the heroines Phoebe and Hannah, crafted from Stratford's meticulous research and fabulous imagination." - Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Chelsea Girls
"Red Letter Days is a blacklist-era game of cat and mouse that's positively Shakespearean in its witty dialogue, forged identities, banishments, unexpected romance, and even its drama within the drama. The final lightning-speed pages left me breathless." - Kerri Maher, author of The Girl in White Gloves
"Fairly singing with tension and triumph…weaves fact and fiction into a tale that serves as entertainment, warning, reflection and homage wrapped up in one highly readable package." - Greer Macallister, USA Today bestselling author of The Magician's Lie and Woman 99
This information about Red Letter Days was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sarah-Jane Stratford is an author and essayist who has written for the Guardian, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Review of Books, Slate, Salon, and Guernica, among others. She is also a member of WAM! (Women, Action, and the Media).
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