In the new country, Shirley and her family all have big dreams. Take the family store: Shirley has great ideas about how to make it more modern! Prettier! More profitable! She even thinks she can sell the one specialty no one seems to want to try: Mama's homemade gefilte fish. But her parents think she's too young to help. And anyway they didn't come to America for their little girl to work. "Go play with the cat!" they urge. This doesn't stop Shirley's ideas, of course. And one day, when the rest of the family has to rush out leaving her in the store with sleepy Mrs. Gottlieb ... Shirley seizes her chance!
This novel, selected by the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and the Book-ofthe- Month Club, has been hailed as "Daphne du Maurier meets Edith Wharton." Set in turn-of-the-century New York, it is a tale of passion, intrigue, and murder. Mario Alfieri, the world's most famous tenor, is preparing to make his debut at the Met. As he rents a house facing Gramercy Park, he discovers a pale young woman hiding in its music room. Her love-and secrets-soon mesmerize the great man.