| Vendor | |
|---|---|
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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher |
| Original language | |
| English | |
A TENDER THING
This is a fiercely compelling and evocative debut novel set under the dazzling lights of late 1950s Broadway, about a controversial new musical production that brings into question everything about artistry, passion, and legacy, and the young woman caught in the center of it all.
Growing up in rural Wisconsin, Eleanor always knew she was different. In love with musical theater from a young age, she devoured every show album she could get her hands on, belting her favorites in the corner of her family's farmhouse and playacting a life worlds away. But when she discovers an open call notice for a show by her favorite composer, something shifts in Eleanor. No longer content with merely dreaming, she leaves behind everything she knows to run off to New York City and audition. Raw and untrained, she catches the eye of famed composer Don Mannheim and is catapulted into the leading role of his new work, A Tender Thing, a highly controversial love story between a white woman and black man - one never before seen on a mainstage.
As word of the production gets out, an outpouring of protest whips into a fury and Eleanor finds herself in the eye of the storm. Between the intensity of rehearsals, her developing friendship with her co-star Charles, and her increasingly muddled creative - and personal - relationship with Don, Eleanor begins to question her own naïve beliefs about the world and the riskiness of the whole undertaking. And when explosive secrets threaten to shatter the delicate balance of the company, and the possibility of the show itself, Eleanor must face a new reality and ultimately decide what it is she truly wants.
Pulsing with the energy and verve of 1950s New York, A TENDER THING immerses readers in the pinnacle of Broadway's golden age, a portrait of a world on the brink of change.
Emily Neuberger is an MFA candidate and grant recipient at Brooklyn College's fiction program. She has a music degree from NYU, where she studied musical theater and writing, after performing for fifteen years. She performed at Carnegie Hall in Stephen Schwartz's birthday celebration and sang for Stephen Sondheim at the Music Institute of Chicago. She lives in Brooklyn. A TENDER THING is her debut novel.
As word of the production gets out, an outpouring of protest whips into a fury and Eleanor finds herself in the eye of the storm. Between the intensity of rehearsals, her developing friendship with her co-star Charles, and her increasingly muddled creative - and personal - relationship with Don, Eleanor begins to question her own naïve beliefs about the world and the riskiness of the whole undertaking. And when explosive secrets threaten to shatter the delicate balance of the company, and the possibility of the show itself, Eleanor must face a new reality and ultimately decide what it is she truly wants.
Pulsing with the energy and verve of 1950s New York, A TENDER THING immerses readers in the pinnacle of Broadway's golden age, a portrait of a world on the brink of change.
Emily Neuberger is an MFA candidate and grant recipient at Brooklyn College's fiction program. She has a music degree from NYU, where she studied musical theater and writing, after performing for fifteen years. She performed at Carnegie Hall in Stephen Schwartz's birthday celebration and sang for Stephen Sondheim at the Music Institute of Chicago. She lives in Brooklyn. A TENDER THING is her debut novel.
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Book
Published 2020-04-07 by Putnam |
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Book
Published 2020-04-07 by Putnam |