Wild Women and the Blues: A Novel by Denny S. BrycePublication Date: March 30, 2021
Pages: 384
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★★
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Fiction / African American & Black / Historical
Publisher: Kensington / Penguin Random House
In a stirring and impeccably researched novel of Jazz-age Chicago in all its vibrant life, two stories intertwine nearly a hundred years apart, as a chorus girl and a film student deal with loss, forgiveness, and love…in all its joy, sadness, and imperfections.
“Why would I talk to you about my life? I don't know you, and even if I did, I don't tell my story to just any boy with long hair, who probably smokes weed.You wanna hear about me. You gotta tell me something about you. To make this worth my while.”
1925: Chicago is the jazz capital of the world, and the Dreamland Café is the ritziest black-and-tan club in town. Honoree Dalcour is a sharecropper’s daughter, willing to work hard and dance every night on her way to the top. Dreamland offers a path to the good life, socializing with celebrities like Louis Armstrong and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. But Chicago is also awash in bootleg whiskey, gambling, and gangsters. And a young woman driven by ambition might risk more than she can stand to lose.
2015: Film student Sawyer Hayes arrives at the bedside of 110-year-old Honoree Dalcour, still reeling from a devastating loss that has taken him right to the brink. Sawyer has rested all his hope on this frail but formidable woman, the only living link to the legendary Oscar Micheaux. If he’s right—if she can fill in the blanks in his research, perhaps he can complete his thesis and begin a new chapter in his life. But the links Honoree makes are not ones he’s expecting...
Piece by piece, Honoree reveals her past and her secrets, while Sawyer fights tooth and nail to keep his. It’s a story of courage and ambition, hot jazz and illicit passions. And as past meets present, for Honoree, it’s a final chance to be truly heard and seen before it’s too late. No matter the cost...
“Immersive, mysterious and evocative; factual in its history and nuanced in its creativity.” —Ms. Magazine
REVIEW
Some books try to dance in two different times. Most stumble. Denny S. Bryce’s Wild Women and the Blues doesn’t miss a step.
The story swings between 1925 Chicago, where chorus girl Honoree Dalcour chases her dreams through smoky speakeasies and the famed Dreamland Café, and 2015, where film student Sawyer Hayes interviews the now 110-year-old Honoree about those wild days. But this isn’t just another then-and-now tale.
Bryce knows her stuff. A former dancer herself, she brings 1920s Chicago’s Black Belt to vivid life. You can practically hear the jazz spilling onto State Street, feel the press of bodies in underground clubs, taste the bootleg whiskey. When Honoree’s old flame Ezekiel Bailey shows up and her big Dreamland audition goes sideways, the story takes off like a hot trumpet solo.
The modern story follows Sawyer, who’s running from his sister’s death by diving into Honoree’s past. Their conversations crackle with tension; she’s got secrets, he’s got questions, and neither is backing down. Sure, the Jazz Age scenes steal the show (they’re impossible not to love), but the contemporary chapters keep you guessing about what really went down back then.
What makes this debut special isn’t just its historical detail or its mysteries. It’s how Bryce shows us that the past isn’t really past at all. The choices we make, the secrets we keep, the music we dance to, they echo through generations, changing lives long after the band stops playing.
Is it perfect? No. Sometimes the modern timeline feels like it’s playing catch-up with the historical fireworks. But that’s like complaining about a few wrong notes in an otherwise brilliant jazz set.
If you loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or can’t resist a good historical mystery, grab this book. Just don’t blame me if you end up staying up way too late, telling yourself “just one more chapter” as you follow Honoree’s story into the Chicago night.
4.5/5 stars – A debut that hits all the right notes.
