Vera - by Carol Edgarian (Paperback)

About the Book

"Meet Vera Johnson, fifteen-year-old illegitimate daughter of Rose, notorious proprietor of San Francisco's most legendary bordello. Vera has grown up straddling two worlds-the madam's alluring sphere, replete with tickets to the opera, surly henchmen, and scant morality, and the quiet domestic life of the family paid to raise her. On the morning of the great quake, Vera's worlds collide. As the city burns and looters vie with the injured, orphaned, and starving, Vera and her guileless sister, Pie, are cast adrift. Disregarding societal norms and prejudices, Vera begins to imagine a new kind of life. She collaborates with Tan, her former rival, and forges an unlikely family of survivors, navigating through the disaster together. In Vera, Carol Edgarian creates a cinematic, deeply entertaining world, in which honor and fates are tested; notions of sex, class, and justice are turned upside down; and love is hard-won. A ravishing, heartbreaking, and profound affirmation of youth and tenacity, Vera's story brings to life legendary characters-tenor Enrico Caruso, indicted mayor Eugene Schmitz and boss Abe Ruef, tabloid celebrity Alma Spreckels. This richly imagined, timely tale of improbable outcomes and alliances takes hold from the first page, with remarkable scenes of devastation, renewal, and joy. Vera celebrates the audacious fortitude of its young heroine, who discovers an unexpected strength in unprecedented times"--

Book Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Carol Edgarian delivers "an all-encompassing and enthralling" (Oprah Daily) novel featuring an unforgettable heroine coming of age in the aftermath of catastrophe, and her quest for love and reinvention.Meet Vera Johnson, fifteen-year-old illegitimate daughter of Rose, notorious proprietor of San Francisco's most legendary bordello. Vera has grown up straddling two worlds--the madam's alluring sphere, replete with tickets to the opera, surly henchmen, and scant morality, and the quiet domestic life of the family paid to raise her. On the morning of the great quake, Vera's worlds collide. As the city burns and looters vie with the injured, orphaned, and starving, Vera and her guileless sister, Pie, are cast adrift. Disregarding societal norms and prejudices, Vera begins to imagine a new kind of life. She collaborates with Tan, her former rival, and forges an unlikely family of survivors, navigating through the disaster together. "A character-driven novel about family, power, and loyalty, (San Francisco Chronicle), Vera brings to life legendary characters--tenor Enrico Caruso, indicted mayor Eugene Schmitz and boss Abe Ruef, tabloid celebrity Alma Spreckels. This "brilliantly conceived and beautifully realized" (Booklist, starred review) tale of improbable outcomes and alliances takes hold from the first page, with remarkable scenes of devastation, renewal, and joy. Vera celebrates the audacious fortitude of its young heroine, who discovers an unexpected strength in unprecedented times.

Review Quotes

"An all-encompassing and enthralling historical novel, Vera parallels with the current era, and all of its accompanying losses." -O, The Oprah Magazine "Written with distinctive and elegant prose, Edgarian paints a beautiful portrait of devastation... at times reminiscent of Doctorow's Ragtime... a character-driven novel about family, power and loyalty, Vera ultimately asks if it's possible to belong to another person." -San Francisco Chronicle "Immersive. . . . Vera is a reverent ode to the resiliency of San Francisco and her people." -San Francisco Examiner "Edgarian's gritty yet hopeful historical novel doesn't gloss over the countless tragedies rising like the smoke and dust in the 500 devastated city blocks, but Vera personifies the pluck that revived San Francisco... riveting." -Shelf Awareness "Brilliantly conceived and beautifully realized." -Booklist, STARRED review "Edgarian weaves a wonderful tale of struggle, youth, perseverance, love and the lack of it, and much of what makes us human beings... captures a difficult but evocative time in the life of one of America's great cities. It is well worth a read for this alone, if not for the gripping story of a young girl's struggle and coming to age during the life-shattering events of the earthquake and fires of 1906." -New York Journal of Books "If there's a book that speaks urgently to a time of grief, resilience, wounding loneliness, and collective hope in one of the deadliest pandemics in history, it is Vera-a work to be cherished for what it uncovers in the pages and, possibly, the heart of the reader." -LA Review of Books "Edgarian's work contends elegantly and meticulously with historical detail, placing us at the center of a fateful event and allowing us to imagine how we'd respond... The star of Vera-sparkling with luxuriance and offering hope in the midst of devastation-is San Francisco, the great civic entity that reinvents itself time and again." -Alta "The City by the Bay, leveled by the 1906 earthquake and fire, is vividly evoked in Edgarian's engrossing saga... an ingenious Vera navigates a world sharply divided by affluence and poverty that exposes discrimination and injustice, requiring a special resilience to survive." -The National Book Review "Engaging...memorable...Vera is feisty and chafes at the confines of life in this era; her refusal to conform brings to mind a more street-savvy Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. She is forced to be stronger than any 15-year-old should have to be." -BookPage "A lovely, constantly surprising novel... this tart-tongued female Huck Finn leads a ragtag gang... serious research underlies Edgarian's novel... a brand-new California classic." -Historical Novels Review "The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 extinguishes all sense of normalcy for 15-year-old Vera Johnson, who must survive by sheer pluck and intelligence in the newly rattled landscape.... The novel shines in painting a vivid picture of early-20th-century San Francisco, including its rowdy politics." -Kirkus Reviews "The author paints a vivid portrait of a metropolis teeming with sex workers, immigrants, corrupt politicians, and artists... The result makes for a stirring testament to a resilient city that never knew the meaning of the word quit." -Publishers Weekly "Vera has always had to be scrappy and resourceful, even as a child. But the great earthquake of 1906 shakes even Vera, who is forced to imagine a new world for herself among an unlikely band of survivors." -BuzzFeed "A beautifully imagined coming-of-age drama... Vera comes of age explosively, brilliantly and unforgettably. Inventive and poignant, Vera is full of heart-stopping descriptions of catastrophe and tragedy, but equally gorgeous and moving scenes of renewal and reinvention." -BookReporter "Vera shines. [Edgarian] does a masterful job of placing the reader in an authentic landscape, a time and era of a young West Coast city coming into its own. . . . a tim

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Carol Edgarian's novels include Vera, Three Stages of Amazement, and Rise the Euphrates. Her essays and articles regularly appear in national magazines and anthologies, and she is editor of The Writer's Life: Intimate Thoughts on Work, Love, Inspiration, and Fame. She is cofounder and editor of Narrative, a leading digital publisher of fiction, poetry, essays and art, and Narrative in the Schools, which provides free reading and writing resources to students and teachers in nineteen countries. She lives in San Francisco with her family.