Ella : a novel / Diane Richards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richards, Diane, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fitzgerald, Ella--Fiction.

Fitzgerald, Ella.

African American singers--Fiction.

African American singers.

African American women--Fiction.

African American women.

Depressions--1929--Fiction.

Depressions.

New York (N.Y.)--Fiction.

New York (N.Y.).

Genre:

Biographical fiction.

Historical fiction.

Novels.

Physical Description:

372 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First editon.

Place of Publication:

New York : Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2024]

Summary:

When fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald's mother dies at the height of the Depression in 1932, the teenager goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. When the law finally catches up, the "ungovernable" adolescent is incarcerated in the New York Training School for Girls in upstate New York--a wicked prison infamous for its harsh treatment of inmates, especially Black ones. Determined to be free, Ella escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she is forced to dance for pennies on the street. Looking for a break into show business, Ella draws straws to appear at the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night on November 21, 1934. Rather than perform a dance routine directly after "The World Famous Edwards Sisters" number, the homeless Ella, wearing men's galoshes a size too big, risks everything when she decides to sing Judy instead. Four years later, at barely twenty-one, Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Beardwood Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780063338654

0063338653

OCLC:

1387008114