Queenpin
Megan Abbott was born in the wrong time, since she writes like she was a compatriot of the Chandlers and Hammetts of the world. With QUEENPIN, her third novel, she shows no sign of slowing down in style or substance.
Our female narrator remains nameless throughout the whole story. She works the night shift at Club Tee-Hee, while taking courses to expand her horizons during the day. It soon becomes apparent to her bosses that this woman is a lot brighter than expected, and should be handling the books for them. That’s when she meets Gloria Denton, a female boss who could give some of the old-school mob guys a run for their money, with her tough-as-nails, take-no-guff attitude – in other words, not a woman you would want to cross.
Gloria takes our narrator under her wing and teaches her the ropes, with the pupil learning with eager gusto. She does as she is told, making nice as she plays the horses and follows the rules that Gloria has given her: Mind your business and never bet to win – just place and show.
Soon she meets Vic, a charming crap gambler – the kind who should quit while he is way ahead, only to blow it in the next five minutes. They start making the scene together, which upsets Gloria to no end. Vic gets in deep to the local muscle, but he’s got a plan. Unfortunately, it’s going to involve some of Gloria’s money. That’s when you find out what Gloria is really made of; she’s not about to go crying to the higher-ups.
In QUEENPIN, Abbott has weaved together a great tale of two very strong-willed women, and the result radiates off the page. These are not some mousy gun moll types. Gloria is a character who would have been way ahead of her time back in the day, while our narrator is the type of gal who starts off slow, only to see that her future relies on taking on some of her boss’ tendencies.
QUEENPIN is a such a pleasure to read: not some New Age women empowerment bullshit, but a thick slice of feminism noir, and I want myself another piece. –Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE SONG IS YOU by Megan Abbott
Wow. It’s always great to see an author make female characters strong and interesting without every moment of the text screaming “see?! my female characters are strong and interesting!”
This sounds pretty much perfect, I’ll have to take a break from Hard Case for a minute and pick this up. (Speaking of which, from your review it sounds like Abbott and Hard Case Crime would be a perfect fit.)
I have a huge, literary crush on Megan Abbott. She’s a very talented writer, and each book gets better and better. I have QUEENPIN on order and can’t WAIT to read it. I’m glad to see her getting more press — she deserves it!