Good Luck and a Benevolent God

It was her funeral and she wanted all of them to be there—not just her eccentric family but her ex-husband, old boyfriends, and even that ‘special’ girlfriend of her niece. But who is that man taking photos of Mandy in her coffin? Why is all that stuff in the front yard of her little house in Connecticut? In 1924, Mandy Flanagan, an ambitious seventeen-year-old Irish girl from Boston’s South End convinces wealthy Henry Russell to elope with her to New York City hoping to become a Broadway star. When the marriage fails, she stays on alone and finds work in radio. Her life unfolds as an unconventional drama, filled with stories about lucky encounters, big questions, controversy and music. This is the portrait of an unforgettable woman and the people she loved. “A well-told…wide-ranging tale. Appel writes in the natural prose of a raconteur, rising occasionally to the level of lyricism when praising her heroine” (Kirkus Reviews).