Posts mostly about swing era novels, modern novels set in the era, biographies and how-to books. If you have a book you’d like The Girl in the Jitterbug Dress to review please contact her at: https://girlinthejitterbugdress.com/website_5c5e3059/about-tam-francis/contact-tam/
The Synopsis The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (Tor.com, February 16, 2016) is the cat’s pajamas when it comes to Lovecraftian horror re-imagined. With grit, soul, and a touch of jazz-age flair, for this Ballad of Black Tom Review, we swing into 1920s Harlem. Charles Thomas Tester is a street-smart hustler who plays […more…]
The Synopsis Below the Grand Hotel by Cat Scully (CLASH Books, May 6, 2025) is the cat’s pajamas and macabre historical fantasy–horror debut. For this Below the Grand Hotel: Vintage book review, we go to opulent 1920s New York, following Mabel Rose Dixon, a scrappy performer from Georgia determined to become a Ziegfeld girl. When […more…]
The Synopsis Salt to the Sea Philomel Books (February 2016) by Ruta Sepetys is a gripping, heart-wrenching WWII historical fiction that sheds light on the forgotten maritime tragedy of the Wilhelm Gustloff. My Salt to the Sea: Vintage book review finds us amidst the brutal winter of 1945, as the Soviet army advances through East […more…]
Mexican Gothic vintage book review by Tam Francis The Synopsis Mexican Gothic Del Rey Publishing (June 30, 2020) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia fits into a 1950s Gothic style horror mystery with hints of Historical Fiction and romance set a small villiage in Mexico. Receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin, Noemí embarks on a journey […more…]
Texas Jailhouse Music: vintage book review by Tam Francis The Synopsis Texas Jailhouse Music, The History Press (May 2, 2016) by Carolilne Gnagy is a lovely Texas-sized non-fiction that brings to light an almost lost history of iconic Texas music and the players behind bars who contributed to it. For a brief moment in Texas […more…]
Last Dance on the Starlight Pier vintage book review by Tam Francis The Synopsis Last Dance on the Starlight Pier St. Martin Press (April, 2022) by Sara Bird is a lovely Texas-sized historical fiction that spotlights marathan dances of the great depression era. Amidst the tumultuous era of the Great Depression, Sarah Bird’s Last Dance […more…]
Three New Audio Books (Finally, right?) Folks have been asking about audio books and I tried creating books through Amazon’s ACX for Audible, but the talent I was working with disappeared in the middle of production and yours truly can only afford to do the royalty split production path for audio books at this time. […more…]
Texas Jazz Singer Louise Tobin in the Golden Age of Swing and Beyond a book review by Tam Francis The Synopsis Texas Jazz Singer Louise Tobin in the Golden Age of Swing and Beyond (Texas A&M Press May, 2021) by Kevin Edward Mooney is a biography of Texas jazz singer Louise Tobin as part of […more…]