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A Novel
by Danielle Teller
A thrilling and immersive tale of an impoverished woman turned con-artist by the critically acclaimed author of All the Ever Afters.
In the Gilded Age, a time of abject poverty and obscene wealth, a desperate and ambitious young woman strikes out for a new life in the rising industrial cities of America. Naive Fanny is thrust into a Darwinian world where she is cast out and preyed upon, but she's a survivor and quickly learns from her struggles. Thanks to her close observations of the mercenary actors around her, Fanny discovers the power of illusion and how it can overcome the immutability of social class and the ruthless rules of capitalism.
Shedding her past, Fanny embarks on a darkly thrilling transformation. She becomes Kitty Warren—a forger, con artist, and thief. Exploiting the greed and self-regard of the powerful, Kitty builds her own castle in the sky, yet she finds real pleasure and fulfilment elusive, and soon her foundations start to crumble.
With schemes more wicked than Jay Gatsby's, yet with more humanity than Tom Ripley, Kitty Warren exposes the dark heart of the American dream, making Forged a gripping narrative and a parable for the ages.
"Teller's reimagined tale stands out among the best. Fairy-tale aficionados will adore Teller's complex, touching retelling of this classic story of womanhood, perseverance, and familial love, in which she strikes an ideal balance between familiar and fresh." —Booklist (starred review)
"A compelling examination of the pursuit of the American Dream, Forged is a fascinating tale set within the Gilded Age that feels particularly relevant today. The novel evokes the narrative complexity of Hernan Diaz's Trust, while illustrating the excesses of the age through Kitty Warren, who is in turns inspiring and shocking, both a damsel in distress and a cool and bold strategist—everything one would want in a protagonist. I adored this book." —Kathy Wang, author of The Satisfaction Cafe
"In Forged, Danielle Teller spins a thrilling and immersive historical adventure—a tale of power, reinvention, and delectable Tom Ripley-esque villainy. She plunges the reader into a vividly rendered past rife with suspense and schemes; twists and turns. This is a timeless American story of wealth, power, and the quest to craft an identity." —Sanjena Sathian, author of Goddess Complex
This information about Forged was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Danielle Teller is in her second career, writing, which involves a lot more rejection than her first career, doctoring, but the hours are much better. She still misses Canada and academics, but life as a Californian empty-nester is also pretty great. She is the author of the novel All the Ever Afters and one book of nonfiction, Sacred Cows: The Truth About Divorce and Marriage.
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