It’s the Jazz age in New York, as portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the age of the super wealthy, who are bored and languishing in their waterfront mansions. It’s also the age of rum running, smuggling, bootlegging, gangsters, and robbery. Sixteen-year-old Henrietta “Henny” Fine survives in this world as a street urchin, rubbing shoulders with real gangsters as as well as fictional Gatsbyesque characters. Her adventures include becoming a gifted and sought after locksmith apprenticing with Harry Houdini’s famous mentor, Charles Courtney; befriending the infamous Witch of Beacon Hill, Margery the Medium; accompanying Courtney on a heist; associating with Houdini himself; and becoming the protégé of Arnold Rothstein, one of the most important gangsters in American history. It’s a dangerous and exciting way of life that begins when Henny finds herself in the middle of a jewel robbery gone awry and must make a life-altering decision.
By Paul M. Levitt
2025
Paul Levitt’s latest novel chronicles the whereabouts and adventures of teen-aged picaresque heroine, Henrietta Fine. Assuming the financial and emotional support for both herself and her newly-widowed mother, Henrietta navigates her way through the American 1920’s with intelligence, determination, and chutzpah. Her wit and independent spirit help to keep her one step ahead of the con-artists, gangsters, and doomed celebrities with whom she must negotiate as she considers her dying father’s last wish. Like the journeys of many picaresque characters, Henrietta must make her own way through a world that seems to be made up of deceit, cruelty and indifference. And yet, she is able to “hear the varied carols of America singing.” Levitt’s extraordinarily dynamic and fluid language propels Fine off the page and into our hearts and homes. We are with her at every turn, delighted by her success, disheartened by her setbacks. As in his previous prose work, Levitt’s masterful style is at once elegant and dramatic, making Henrietta Fine unforgettable.
—Kristine Doll, Professor of World Languages and Culture at Salem State University, Salem, MA Poet and Translator (Catalan/English/Spanish) Recipient of several prizes, including the Bogdani Prestigios Prize for Poetry.
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