Fic­tion

When Fran­ny Stands Up: A Novel

  • From the Publisher
September 1, 2021

The Mar­velous Mrs. Maisel meets A League of Their Own.

Fran­ny Stein­berg knows there’s pow­er­ful mag­ic in laugh­ter. She’s wit­nessed it. With the men of Chica­go off fight­ing WWII on dis­tant shores, Fran­ny has watched the women of the city tak­ing charge of the war effort. But amidst the war bond sales and fac­to­ry shifts, some­thing sur­pris­ing has emerged, some­thing Fran­ny could nev­er have expect­ed. A new mar­vel that has women flock­ing to com­e­dy clubs across the nation: the Showstopper.

When Fran­ny steps into Chicago’s Blue Moon com­e­dy club, she real­izes the pow­er of a Show­stop­per — that spe­cif­ic mag­ic sparked when an audi­ence laughs so hard, they are momen­tar­i­ly trans­formed. And while each come­di­an’s Show­stop­per is dif­fer­ent, they all have one thing in com­mon: they only work on women.

After a trau­mat­ic flash­back pro­pels her onstage in a torn brides­maid dress, Fran­ny dis­cov­ers her own Show­stop­per is some­thing new. And sud­den­ly she has the pow­er to change everything…for her­self, for her audi­ence, and for the peo­ple who may need it most.

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