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    Vivian In Red
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    Vivian In Red
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    Vivian In Red
    Ebook404 pages6 hours

    Vivian In Red

    By Kristina Riggle

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Famed Broadway producer Milo Short may be eighty-eight but that doesn't stop him from going to the office every day. So when he steps out of his Upper West Side brownstone on one exceptionally hot morning, he's not expecting to see the impossible: a woman from his life sixty years ago, cherry red lips, bright red hat, winking at him on a New York sidewalk, looking just as beautiful as she did back in 1934.

    The sight causes him to suffer a stroke. And when he comes to, the renowned lyricist discovers he has lost the ability to communicate. Milo believes he must unravel his complicated history with Vivian Adair in order to win back his words. But he needs helpin the form of his granddaughter Eleanorfailed journalist and family misfit. Tapped to write her grandfather’s definitive biography, Eleanor must dig into Milo’s colorful past to discover the real story behind Milo’s greatest song Love Me, I Guess, and the mysterious woman who inspired an amazing life.

    A sweeping love story, family mystery and historical drama set eighty years apart, Vivian in Red will swell your heart like a favorite song while illuminating Broadway like you've never seen before.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPolis Books
    Release dateSep 19, 2016
    ISBN9781943818389
    Author

    Kristina Riggle

    Kristina Riggle is a published short story writer and coeditor for fiction at the e-zine Literary Mama. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, two kids, and dog.

    Read more from Kristina Riggle

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    Reviews for Vivian In Red

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    • 3/5
      Hard not to fall form the irrepressible Milo Short, 88, and feisty, still in possession of all his marbles. Famous for a hit musical, notable songwriter and producer in his day, if fact he still goes into his office. Now the head of family that includes many grandchildren and greats, he is doing fine until...... he sees a ghost from the past, Vivian Adair, a dark haired beauty wearing a red hat, the only problem, Vivian Adair is dead, died long ago. Milo has a stroke and now he is not doing so fine, what does Vivian's ghost want?I was attracted to cover, love the black, white with the red, very visual. Also the subject matter was a novel one for me, back in the earlier 1900's, the heyday of the big musical productions and the atmosphere really takes the reader back. Singers, actors, songwriters, Milo and his partner, their stories separately and together, and the advent of Vivian. Modern day story, a granddaughter charged with writing a book about her grandfather's life happens upon a discrepancy, and sets out to discover what is troubling him from the past. Of course, she has help, much to the dismay of the rest of the family.A lighter book. family secrets, a tromp back to Broadway times and a wonderful character in Milo, an old man with secrets and retreats of his own. Slowly paced, but an entertaining read.
    • 4/5
      So many engrossing novels about the entertainment industry in the 1920’s and 1930’s have been written this year. Vivian in Red focuses on the magic of Broadway in its early years, and the evolution from vaudeville to staged musicals. Riggle also weaves in the role Tin Pan Alley played in contributing to the theater.As the book opens, 88-year-old Milo Short, a Broadway lyricist and producer, still participates in his family business Milo Short Productions. As he is leaving work one day, he sees a woman from his past, Vivian Adair, as she would have looked when he knew her in the 1930’s. Startled, he collapses and is rushed to the hospital. Diagnosed with a stroke, Milo recovers the use of his limbs, but not his voice. Meanwhile he continues to see and hear Vivian speak to him. As the story oscillates between the 1930’s and 1999, the story of Milo’s life and relationship with Vivian unfold. Since I love going to see Broadway shows, I particularly loved the sections relating to the early Broadway shows and Tin Pan Alley. Milo’s show for which he wrote the lyrics, The High Hat, ran at the New Amsterdam, a theater I have been to many times. I was mesmerized by the references to Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and other famous people from that era. Riggle works the real life details in seamlessly, and I found it all truly fascinating.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. For theatre lovers, it is a must read. I am already looking forward to Kristina Riggle’s next book.