Known as The Roaring Twenties, The Années Folles, and the prohibition era, the 1920s were full of mystique, glamor, and stories about love and murder. It was quite the time to be alive.
Maggie O'Sullivan, the novel's heart, is a modern woman battling a still restrictive environment. She's confident, strong, striking, funny, and a champion of women's issues. She's also reckless, a bit Clara Bow, a touch Louise Brooks, with a smattering of Garbo.
While at Mount Holyoke, the "ungettable" Maggie falls for the calm and hopeful novelist, C.J. Elliott. Maggie and C.J. have virtues and vices, complexities, and biases. Sometimes they're a mess.
They marry and fit right into the decade's edgy, dynamic, and exciting spirit. The alluring persona of flappers and jazz propels them into the roar of automobiles, consumerism, and self-indulgence. At first, everything is new and possible. Troubles vanish like morning mist. Musically gifted as a cellist and vocalist, Maggie's hunger for acknowledgment and fame begins to surface. For Maggie, life is good. The stardom she dreams of is blossoming.
Sailing to France, the Elliotts meet F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Paris is splendid, and C.J. fits snuggly into a group of lost generation writers. His writing blossoms in both quality and pace. Scott Fitzgerald's publisher accepts his novel, while Maggie explodes onto stages, including the Paris Opera House.
C.J. Elliott and his glamorous "flapper" wife cross the boundaries of celebrity and become icons of the Jazz Age. Exuberance, contagious energy, and stimulating rhythms make life glorious. Best of all, they have the Fitzgeralds as partners in utter mayhem.
As time passes, C.J. begins to grow more aware of the jaggedness in Maggie's soul. She isn't just playing when she slides down banisters or jumps into fountains. She is carrying a desperation and a tartness. She becomes a fascinating woman, both blessed-and cursed-by growing fame, which begins to render her impenetrable.
For C.J., the endless allure of outrageous parties dwindles, and he starts looking for lasting fulfillment. Maggie longs for more excitement. For her, the City of Lights is not enough. Opportunities need to be grander.
Maggie wants adoration and America idolizes stars. In Hollywood, Maggie shines brilliantly on the silver screen.
But celebrity is an elegant facade covering a world that chews people up. The parties don't go on forever. Weighed down by self-imposed pressures, Maggie battles mental illness, sometimes turning manic at the drop of a hat. Her life becomes a blur.
The Magnificent Maggie will appeal to fans of historical and upmarket fiction, pre-code Hollywood, and readers who enjoy enthralling but elusive characters, elusive like the perfume somebody else is wearing.
