{"product_id":"the-crazyladies-of-pearl-street-9781400080373","title":"The Crazyladies of Pearl Street","description":"\u003cb\u003eLegendary writer Trevanian brings readers his most personal novel yet: a funny, deeply felt, often touching coming-of-age novel set in 1930s America. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Six-year-old Jean-Luc LaPointe, his little sister, and his spirited but vulnerable young mother have been abandoned--again--by his father, a charming con artist. With no money and nowhere else to go, the LaPointes create a fragile nest in a tenement building at 238 North Pearl Street in Albany, New York. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor the next eight years, through the Great Depression and Second World War, they live in the heart of the Irish slum, surrounded by ward heelers, unemployment, and grinding poverty. Pearl Street is also home to a variety of \"crazyladies\" Miss Cox, the feared and ridiculed teacher who ignites Jean-Luc's imagination; Mrs. Kane, who runs a beauty parlor\/fortune-telling salon in the back of her husband's grocery store; Mrs. Meehan, the desperate, harried matriarch of a thuggish family across the street; lonely Mrs. McGivney, who spends every day tending to her catatonic husband, a veteran of the Great War; and Jean-Luc's own unconventional, vivacious mother. Colorful though it is, Jean-Luc never stops dreaming of a way out of the slum, and his mother's impossible expectations are both his driving force and his burden. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As legendary writer Trevanian lovingly re-creates the neighborhood of his youth in this funny, deeply moving coming-of-age novel, he also paints a vivid portrait of a neighborhood, a city, a nation in turmoil, and the people waiting for a better life to begin. It's a heartfelt and unforgettable look back at one child's life in the 1930s and '40s, a story that will be remembered long after the last page is turned.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTrevanian lives in the French Basque region. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eShibumi\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Eiger Sanction, The Loo Sanction, The Main, The Summer of Katya, Incident at Twenty-Mile\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHot Night in the City\u003c\/i\u003e. Visit trevanian.com for the Crazyladies cybernotes, Trevanian's commentaries, items from the author's desk, and more.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Crown Publishing Group (NY)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50630014697746,"sku":"9781400080373","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2f15ca0f-9af4-4247-bf9a-613902944e8e.jpg?v=1732740583","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-crazyladies-of-pearl-street-9781400080373","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}