On the Rooftop
A Reese's Book Club Pick
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
'AN UTTERLY ORIGINAL AND BRILLIANT STORY' REESE WITHERSPOON
Perfect for fans of Louise Hare and Elizabeth Gilbert, On the Rooftop is a stunning story of ambition and sisterhood, dancing to the rhythm of Jazz Era San Francisco
Longlisted for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize
Vivian's three daughters have been singing in harmony since before they could speak. Together they are The Salvations, the hottest jazz band in San Francisco. But Vivian wants more for her girls, and she won't stop until they've got their big break.
When The Salvations receive a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a renowned talent manager, Vivian knows this is exactly what she's been praying for. But somewhere between the grind of endless rehearsals on the rooftop and the glamour of weekly gigs at the Champagne Supper Club, Ruth, Esther and Chloe grow up and start to imagine a life beyond their mother's reach.
Dancing to the rhythm of Jazz Era San Fransisco, On the Rooftop is a stunning story of ambition, success, and three sisters determined to define their own future.
'It will get inside your heart, break it wide open and stay there for a long time.' Good Housekeeping
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sexton (The Revisioners) broadly reimagines The Fiddler on the Roof in an affecting family story set in a rapidly changing historically Black San Francisco neighborhood. It's 1953, and people from all walks of life pack the Champagne Supper Club to see the latest jazz and R&B performers. On Fridays, they cheer the Salvations, hometown favorites made up of sisters Ruth, Esther, and Chloe Jones. Now in their early 20s, the sisters' talents have been relentlessly forged during countless rooftop rehearsals run by their mother, Vivian, a widow whose hopes for her daughters all center on their musical superstardom. Just as Vivian's dream seems within reach, though, her daughters yearn for independence, with Chloe eyeing a solo career and Esther wanting to join the civil rights movement. Meanwhile, white developers begin disrupting Vivian's Black Fillmore neighbors— many of whom, like Vivian, fled racial violence in the deep South—with eminent domain proceedings. In alternating viewpoints, Sexton depicts the nuances of familial relationships, including the sisters' combination of loyalty and jealousy, as well as the complex and changeable nature of regret. The historical milieu is less sharply drawn, with celebrity cameos too often standing in for concrete details of time and place. Nevertheless, Sexton brings undeniable power to her depiction of dreams fragmented and deferred.
