The Happy Island (1938) • Dawn Powell
[rating=5]
275 pages • Steerforth • 1938, 1998 [PB]
The Happy Island is a story of rich New York in the late 1930s, and work of genius from a master satirist.
PermalinkIt is the nightclub singer Prudence Bly who is Powell’s greatest performance. She should hold a high place in the literary hall of fame aside Ignatius J. Reilly and Bertie Wooster. The exchanges with her coeval and rival Jean Nelson are electric.