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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
A fatal fall from the hotel roof, a disfiguring assault, and violence attached to the drug trade
Language
Some
Mid-century dialogue and modern journalism scenes; profanity is occasional
Sexual Content
Some
Reader notes on Goodreads flag an attempted rape
Substance Use
Very heavy
The heroin ring is the plot's spine — Kirkus notes drug trafficking and undercover police, and study guides identify a character as a police informant in a heroin operation
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Suicide, mental illness and bullying appear on reader content lists, and the framing device is a woman who has spent sixty years concealing what she did that night
What this book is about
Darby McLaughlin arrived at the Barbizon in 1952 as a secretarial student and fell in with Esme, a Puerto Rican maid who took her downtown to jazz clubs and into worse company. Decades later Rose Lewin, a journalist living in the converted building, pulls the thread on a woman who went off the roof that year.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Heroin trafficking and addiction
Attempted rape
Suicide
Disfiguring assault
Reader Verification
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