A Roaring '20s Gatsby-Era story of the transformative power of women when the band together.
A novel of the Roaring Twenties - when the rules were clear and made to be broken - and one young woman's transformative journey of love, betrayal, and redemption. Somewhere Still explores the Roaring Twenties through the eyes of a young woman coming of age as she learns the power of love and its ability to heal and mend divides.
From the day Jean Ball lands a job at the elegant Empire hotel, she quickly learns the secrets of the entitled class. Dazzled by a Roaring Twenties society on the cusp of radical change, this innocent young woman finds herself dancing, bobbing her hair, and falling for Elden Whitcomb, the handsome son of the wealthy hotel owner. The stakes rise when the Whitcombs' powerful secrets are revealed and loving Elden comes at a price - one that may be too high for Jean to pay.
Shattered and alone, Jean's in the battle of her life in a city alive with romance, smoky speakeasies, jazz music and scandal, but divided by race and class. With the help and encouragement of influential women, Jean may find what she has always needed, though her choices could echo through generations.
Somewhere Still is written with tenderness as it demonstrates the transformative power of the human spirit to build bridges and extend a helping hand. Denitta Ward uses historical sites and real events to explore Jean's transformation from an innocent young girl to a self-assured woman, making her way in a society in transition. Somewhere Still aims to give insight into 1920s Kansas City, a town on the cusp of significant change. During this time, the city's society women united to urge social advances, the jazz culture was born, baseball's famous Negro League was formed, and the city had a burgeoning Prohibition bootleg trade. Featured locations include Kansas City's Petticoat Lane, Swope Park, the Emery Bird Thayer Dry Goods Company, the Savoy Grill, and Wentworth Military Academy. "Well done Kansas City atmosphere" - Kirkus Reviews
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Ward, Denitta: - "Denitta Ward writes historical and contemporary fiction from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. After decades of writing legal briefs and contracts, Denitta picked up her pen and decided she'd write the stories she really wanted to tell - about young women discovering their own resilience in times of transition. Denitta is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Historical Novel Society. Somewhere Still, written as a Mother's Day gift, captures a society in transition - the world of jazz, baseball's Negro League and a burgeoning Prohibition bootleg trade -- all a backdrop for this story of the price of love, the hurts that are slowest to heal and a certain kind of infinite redemption found when women band together across race and class. After finding a literary agent, Elaine Spencer of the Knight Agency, along came Somewhere Else. Set in Havana, Cuba during the tumultuous year Batista's regime fell, a young woman finds herself torn between love and loyalty, home and safety. And the Somewhere series was born."
