The Wicked City: A Novel Audiobook

New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams recreates the New York City of A Certain Age in this deliciously spicy adventure that mixes past and present and centers on a Jazz Age love triangle involving a rugged Prohibition agent, a saucy redheaded flapper, and a debonair Princetonian from a wealthy family.

When she discovers her husband cheating, Ella Hawthorne impulsively moves out of their SoHo loft and into a small apartment in an old Greenwich Village building. Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight—laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano—even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the place hid a speakeasy.

In 1924, Geneva ""Gin"" Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway known as the Christopher Club. Caught up in a raid, Gin becomes entangled with Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather Duke Kelly, one of Appalachia’s most notorious bootleggers.

Headstrong and independent, Gin is no weak-kneed fool. So how can she be falling in love with the taciturn, straight-arrow Revenue agent when she’s got Princeton boy Billy Marshall, the dashing son of society doyenne Theresa Marshall, begging to make an honest woman of her? While anything goes in the Roaring Twenties, Gin’s adventures will shake proper Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead—secrets that will echo from Park Avenue to the hollers of her Southern hometown.

As Ella discovers more about the basement speakeasy, she becomes inspired by the spirit of her exuberant predecessor, and decides to live with abandon in the wicked city too. . . .

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“Julie McKay and Dara Rosenberg narrate this story of two women who live in New York City seventy years apart. Dara Rosenberg portrays Gin Kelly, whose city experience takes place during Prohibition. Rosenberg’s smoldering twang is reminiscent of the smoke-filled speakeasies that the fast-living Gin frequents. Fast-forward to 1998 and to Ella Gilbert, an accountant, whose life is the exact opposite of Gin’s: perfectly ordered, just like her spreadsheet columns. McKay’s flat tone reflects Ella’s monotonous life—until she moves to an apartment in Greenwich Village that leads to a series of discoveries. Rosenberg and McKay are remarkable performers who deftly deliver all the emotions of these complex characters. Hop on the A train for a powerful ride.”

— AudioFile