Strings Attached
High school dropout Kit Corrigan might not be able to spell femme fatale, but she鈥檚 unwittingly being groomed for the role.
It鈥檚 1950, and the 17-year-old protagonist of Judy Blundell鈥檚 new novel Strings Attached has run away from Providence, R.I., to New York after a blowup that caused her boyfriend and her triplet brother to enlist to fight the Korean War.
Kit鈥檚 been on stage since she could toddle, as her father tried to turn 鈥渢he Corrigan Three鈥� into sponsorship gold. (It worked better when they were babies.) But the Great White Way has so far led to a series of disgusting rooming houses, friends鈥� couches, and a part in the chorus of the second-rate 鈥淭hat Girl from Scranton!鈥�
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Then her boyfriend鈥檚 father, Nate 鈥淭he Nose鈥� Benedict, shows up at a performance. He just happens to have an apartment sitting empty and would love Kit to be able to use it until Billy gets home to marry her. (Kit neglects to mention that she and Billy broke up before she ran away.)
Nate also has a line on a job as a showgirl at the hottest club in town. Oh, and could she call him if Billy contacts her? And would she mind storing the occasional suitcase in the apartment for a few hours until someone can pick it up? And could she let him know when certain 鈥渂usinessmen鈥� might be dining at the Lido?
Despite her growing unease, Kit keeps saying yes. 鈥淟ife gives you plenty of chances to be stupid, and I鈥檇 taken every single one of them.鈥�
Kit might not be bookish or introspective 鈥� she leaves that to her sister, Muddie 鈥� but she鈥檚 got what they used to call moxie. (Characters keep comparing the redhead to Rita Hayworth, but she reminded me more of a young Lauren Bacall.)
For noir lovers who aren鈥檛 afraid of being seen dipping into the teen shelves (I lost any residual embarrassment years ago), Judy Blundell, winner of a 2008 National Book Award for her crossover teen hit 鈥淲hat I Saw and How I Lied,鈥� offers stylish mysteries full of midcentury history. Better still, there鈥檚 not an apocalypse or angst-ridden paranormal being in sight.
鈥淪trings Attached,鈥� Blundell鈥檚 follow-up to 鈥淲hat I Saw and How I Lied,鈥� might be even more intricate. Readers should pay attention to the dates on the chapter headings, because Blundell shuffles the past like a deck of cards.
The Kefauver mob hearings are going on in New York, while Kit鈥檚 upstairs neighbors have been swept up in the Red scare. 鈥淚 have the class read 鈥�The Grapes of Wrath,鈥� and the next thing I know I鈥檓 under investigation,鈥� says Mr. Greeley, a high school teacher with a sweet teenage son named Hank.
As Kit tries to extricate herself from Nate鈥檚 favors, she learns the web she鈥檚 tangled in goes back to her childhood and even further. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the Irish form of advancement 鈥� you don鈥檛 dare do better than those before you,鈥� as her brother Jamie quips.
Blundell loves New York as much as her narrator, and she evokes the swish and shimmer of the 1950s cocktail scene, as well as bygone staples like Woolworth鈥檚 and the Automat.
Kit continues to delve into the long-ago mystery, despite danger and heartbreak, so that she can finally say, like another former dancing puppet, 鈥淭here are no strings on me.鈥�
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews adult and children鈥檚 fiction for the Monitor.
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