Last Night at the Blue Angel

Rebecca Rotert received an M.A. in literature from Hollins College, where she was the recipient of the Academy of American Poets prize. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and other publications. She's also an experienced singer and songwriter, who has performed with several bands, and a teacher with the Nebraska Writers Collective. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska. This is her first novel.

"[A] delicious debut ... While Naomi may perform on stage, it is her daughter Sophia who steals the show and gives this novel its considerable heart." -- Chicago Tribune, Editor's Pick "[An] engaging debut ... Rotert has composed a soulful and touchingly sad mother-daughter blues that lingers after it's over." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Rebecca Rotert traces the difficult contours of love and devotion-a fame-bound singer desperate to change her life, and her daughter, Sophia, who'll risk anything to stay in her mother's marred circle of light. Luminous and deeply affecting, this book swept me along and stole my heart." -- Paula McLain, New York Times bestelling author of The Paris Wife "Filled with music and memory, humor and poetry, Last Night at the Blue Angel is about the burdens of the past and the sometimes unrealistic promise of the future. You'll carry these characters around in your head long after you finish this exuberant, big-hearted novel." -- Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train "One of the most evocative renderings of a child's precocity and appreciativeness in the face of a mother's distracted self-absorption-and how it actually feels to be in thrall to someone else's happiness-since Mona Simpson's Anywhere But Here." -- Jim Shepard, acclaimed author of Like You'd Understand, Anyway "Sophia Hill can take her place proudly beside such affecting child narrators as Francie Nolan of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird... an engaging story." -- Omaha World-Herald "A fascinating and extraordinarily moving first novel populated by complex, sympathetic characters and told in such gorgeous, poetic prose that you'll frequently stop to linger over the sentences. Rebecca Rotert is the real deal. It doesn't happen that often." -- Ron Hansen, acclaimed author of Atticus and Mariette in Ecstasy "Rebecca Rotert's stirring debut does what the best novels do: it draws us deep into the lives of indelible characters while also telling us the broader story of a time and place, in this case, a mid-twentieth century Midwest where repressive social mores are just beginning to fray." -- Marisa Silver, New York Times bestselling author of Mary Coin "Last Night at the Blue Angel is a gorgeously written coming of age story and a clear-eyed account of the human damage that great artistry can leave in its wake." -- Jean Thompson, New York Times bestselling author of The Year We Left Home "A striking discovery, filled with surprises both marvelous and shocking. As the story weaves back and forth in time, spinning out the lives and dreams of a mother and a daughter, the language itself sings in moments of poignant beauty." -- Lauren Belfer, New York Times bestselling author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance "A moving portrait of a tumultuous yet tender mother-daughter relationship ... With lush prose and well-drawn characters, this heartbreaking novel of love, loss, and the redemptive power of music also offers a satisfying glimpse of Chicago at a pivotal point in history." -- Booklist (starred review) "[An] astonishing debut novel ... Rotert's musical background informs Naomi's passion for performance, but it is her heartbreaking portrait of Sophie, so wise yet so vulnerable, that readers will remember long after the final page." -- Library Journal (starred review) "Telling the story from Sophia's and Naomi's distinct perspectives, Rotert creates an expressive and haunting narrative highlighting Sophia's innocent vulnerability and her mother's single-minded obsession... A tale that's poignant, poetic and heart-wrenching throughout." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "It is hard to believe that Last Night at the Blue Angel is Rebecca Rotert's debut, as it simply shimmers with feeling. Her range of emotional evocation and ability to touch a reader so fiercely with beautiful words makes the book a pure pleasure to read." -- Bookreporter.com