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Review “[A] delicious debut . . . While Naomi may perform on stage, it is her daughter Sophia who steals the show and gives this novel its considerable heart.” (Chicago Tribune, Editor's Pick)“[An] engaging debut . . . Rotert has composed a soulful and touchingly sad mother-daughter blues that lingers after it’s over.” (San Francisco Chronicle)“Rebecca Rotert traces the difficult contours of love and devotion—a fame-bound singer desperate to change her life, and her daughter, Sophia, who’ll risk anything to stay in her mother’s marred circle of light. Luminous and deeply affecting, this book swept me along and stole my heart.” (Paula McLain, New York Times bestelling author of The Paris Wife)“Filled with music and memory, humor and poetry, Last Night at the Blue Angel is about the burdens of the past and the sometimes unrealistic promise of the future. You’ll carry these characters around in your head long after you finish this exuberant, big-hearted novel.” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train)“One of the most evocative renderings of a child’s precocity and appreciativeness in the face of a mother’s distracted self-absorption—and how it actually feels to be in thrall to someone else’s happiness—since Mona Simpson’s Anywhere But Here.” (Jim Shepard, acclaimed author of Like You'd Understand, Anyway)“Sophia Hill can take her place proudly beside such affecting child narrators as Francie Nolan of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. . . . an engaging story.” (Omaha World-Herald)“A fascinating and extraordinarily moving first novel populated by complex, sympathetic characters and told in such gorgeous, poetic prose that you’ll frequently stop to linger over the sentences. Rebecca Rotert is the real deal. It doesn’t happen that often.” (Ron Hansen, acclaimed author of Atticus and Mariette in Ecstasy)“Rebecca Rotert’s stirring debut does what the best novels do: it draws us deep into the lives of indelible characters while also telling us the broader story of a time and place, in this case, a mid-twentieth century Midwest where repressive social mores are just beginning to fray.” (Marisa Silver, New York Times bestselling author of Mary Coin)“Last Night at the Blue Angel is a gorgeously written coming of age story and a clear-eyed account of the human damage that great artistry can leave in its wake.” (Jean Thompson, New York Times bestselling author of The Year We Left Home)“A striking discovery, filled with surprises both marvelous and shocking. As the story weaves back and forth in time, spinning out the lives and dreams of a mother and a daughter, the language itself sings in moments of poignant beauty.” (Lauren Belfer, New York Times bestselling author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance) Read more From the Back Cover It is the early 1960s, and Chicago is teeming with the tensions of the day—segregation, sexual experimentation, the Cold War, and Vietnam—but it is also home to some of the country's most influential jazz. Naomi Hill, a singer at the Blue Angel club, has been poised on the brink of stardom for nearly ten years. But when her big break, the cover of Look magazine, finally arrives, it carries with it an enormous personal cost. Sensual and magnetic, Naomi is a fiercely ambitious yet self-destructive woman whose charms tend to hurt those around her, and no one knows this better than her daughter, Sophia.As the only child of a single mother growing up in an adult world, Sophia is wise beyond her years, a casualty of her mother's desperate struggle for fame and adoration. Her only constant is the colorful and unconventional family that surrounds them, particularly the photographer Jim who is Sophia's best friend, surrogate father, and protector—but Jim is also deeply in love with Naomi.Last Night at the Blue Angel is a poignant and unforgettable story about what happens when our passion for the life we want is at sharp odds with the life we have. Part stylish period piece, part heartbreaking family drama, it's a vivid and propulsive page-turner—and the major debut of an extraordinary new writer. Read more See all Editorial Reviews
J**N
Growing up with a Jazz Singer mom in the 1960s - Great book!!
What an amazing book. A mother whose lifelong dream is to be a jazz singer (this is in the 50s - 60s). She has a regular performance at a small nightclub, but just can't hit the bigtime. Her ten-year old daughter adores her mother and yearns for more attention from her. Fortunately, Mom's photographer friend Jim is always there to help take care of the daughter, Sophia. The Mother (Naomi) has a string of boyfriends (and lady friends) who come and go, staying overnight, then it is on to the next one. Nobody lasts long. But steadfast Jim sees to it that Sophia is taken care of.Set in the 60s, this book explores some of the problems of Sophia having a black friend, the only black child in their Catholic classroom.There is just no way to explain all the dynamics and differences in this book - but suffice to say it will grab your attention and never let go. I like that the book is told in two viewpoints: that of Naomi, from when she is young up to when she becomes a mother and singer, and that of Sophia, her daughter.I highly recommend this book!
J**A
Plenty of loose ends here...
I hate to give a less than favorable review because I do believe an author puts so much time, soul and energy in writing a book. That being said, I must still point out to all who want to know if I would recommend this book to you, I would not. BUT, that is just me. Let me tell you a little bit about the book. It is told by two persons, one the mother, (Naomi) and the other the young daughter (Sophia). The book begins with what was then the sixties, narrated by the daughter, Sophia. Sophia is not a normal young girl. But then the other part of the story is written by Sophia's mother, who is telling the story of her young life, to really give you some background as to who she is today. What I really want to say is, the author of this book is a good writer. Her characters are interesting to say the least. But, (and here is why I don't really recommend this book), there is no ending to the book. It is as if the author got up one day and just decided she was sick of the story she was creating, and she just said, "The End". I could not believe the book stopped there and I kept looking for more to the story. Now who wants to get involved with a plot, with all the different characters, and then have one main character die, and so the entire story just ends? Well, that is what happened. Maybe this is a style of writing that I am unfamiliar with. Maybe it is a new way of saying, 'we don't always know how stories in lives end'. Well, that is why I love to loose myself in a good book. I want to get a complete story, not a cop out from the author...
P**S
An Emotional Rollercoaster Ride ...but a good one!
"Last Night at the Blue Angel" by Rebecca RotertWow! Really. This story is an emotional rollercoaster ride ...a nice ride, not a scary one. And not a tearjerker, either. Just a great story. Read this novel and it'll stay with you for some time, if not much longer. Five stars for sure ....and I'll keep an eye out for more from this author.One of the characters, Jim, seemed to be one of the more important characters, yet most reviews fail to even mention him. Perhaps because I'm a man, but I think it was Jim who provided a sense of stability, maturity, and a sense of social structure for both Sophia as well as the story itself. He seems to stay in the background of the story, even as important as he is to the story.Sophia, the little girl and the main narrator, provides continuity for the story, as well as being the character that pulls the story together from almost every angle. Sophia and Jim are characters that will stay with me for a long, long time.Read this novel, you'll like it for the entertainment value. But you'll also like it more when you finish it, as you take just a moment to reflect on it. My guess is that this story will stay with you, too.Yet for all of that emotional stuff, don't forget... it's a great story to read, pure reading enjoyment. And isn't that why we read novels?Patrick.
K**R
Phenomenal book, deftly written
This is a fantastic read. Rotert's characters are fully realized, sympathetic and often deeply flawed, products of not just their times but their personal loves and triumphs and tragedies. Sophia, the more sympathetic of the two narrators, is the child of a lounge singer, dragged through the dark trajectory of her mother's life, but also deeply loved by an extended hodge-podge of a family who have swept in to pick up her mother's slack. Woven through Sophia's tale are the stories of Naomi, her mother, who tells how she, and that extended family came to be.
B**S
Wonderful breakout novel
This book came to me as an Amazon recommendation, after I read Lovers at the Chameleon Club. While both novels take place primarily in a cabaret where some of the main characters are transvestites, this is where these two books part ways. Last Night at The Blue Angel is a very poignant story of a mother, Naomi beginning with her childhood experiences and how they brought her to Chicago. It is also the story of her young daughter Sophia. Sophia is the narrator and through her we see how her mother's history has impacted Sophia's life. We are introduced to a family of characters, each so unique and well crafted and who all help in caring for Sophia and her mother. This novel also has some historical basis in the architecture of the city of Chicago. A very satisfying read.
A**E
Ms Rotert develops an engaging tale through the voices of ...
Ms Rotert develops an engaging tale through the voices of two young women in two different time periods. The relationships of characters in both slowly emerge in a story of ambition, coming of age and the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship. Their voices provide humor, courage and youthful understanding as they navigate a world of adults. The author has a gift for dialogue, allowing the reader to glide through situations that feel familiar and real. Rebecca has written a complex first novel that will tug at your heartstrings.
C**E
read it!
I finished this book last night....wow...what a wonderful book...it is different from any other book I have read in a long time. The writing is great...the premise is totally engaging. The book made me cry but I think we all need a good cry from time to time. I highly recommend this book and kudos to the author.
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