The Blackbirder (Femmes Fatales) - Softcover

Hughes, Dorothy B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558614680 ISBN 13: 9781558614680

Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2004

Synopsis

A classic World War II-era noir with a page-turning plot, a cast of colorfully sinister characters and a protagonist who is thrust into the heart of political intrigue, this captivating 1943 novel parallels the spy novels of Grahame Greene, Eric Ambler, and the films of Hitchcock and Lang. But in -signature Hughes fashion, The Blackbirder has a genre-bending twist: its hardboiled protagonist is a woman.

Born of American expatriate parents, Julie Guilles was a pretty, sheltered rich girl growing up in Paris, a favorite of the Ritz Bar” set. But everything changed when the Nazis rolled into the City of Lights. After three years of life underground, Julie is hiding out in New York; but she knows trouble is coming when the corpse of an acquaintance appears on her doorstep. With a host of possible dangers on her tail the Gestapo, the FBI and the New York cops she embarks on a desperate journey to Santa Fe in search of her last, best hope. The Blackbirder”is a legend among refugees, a trafficker in human souls who flies under the radar to bring people to safety across the Mexican border for a price.

With no resources at her disposal but a smuggled diamond necklace and her own razor-sharp wits, Julie must navigate a tangle of dangers and take a stand in the worldwide struggle that has shattered the lives of millions. In contrast to the typical representations of wartime women as Mrs. Minivers” guarding home and hearth, Dorothy B. Hughes gives her intrepid heroine a place at the heart of the action

Dorothy B. Hughes (1904 1993) is the author of numerous hardboiled mystery novels. Three of her books became successful films: The Fallen Sparrow (1943), Ride the Pink Horse (1947), and In a Lonely Place (1950), reprinted by the Feminist Press in 2003. In 1978 she was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

Femmes Fatales restores to print the best of women’s writing in the classic pulp genres of the mid-20th century. From mystery to hard-boiled noir to taboo lesbian romance, these rediscovered queens of pulp offer subversive perspectives on a turbulent era. Enjoy the series: Bedelia; The Blackbirder; Bunny Lake Is Missing; By Cecile; The G-String Murders; The Girls in 3-B; In a Lonely Place; Laura; Mother Finds a Body; Now, Voyager; Skyscraper; Stranger on Lesbos; Women's Barracks.

About this title

About the Author:

DOROTHY B. HUGHES (August 10, 1904 - May 6, 1993) was an American crime writer and literary critic. Hughes wrote fourteen crime and detective novels, primarily in the hardboiled and noir styles, and is best known for the novels In a Lonely Place (1947) and Ride the Pink Horse (1946). From 1940 to 1979 she reviewed mysteries for the Albuquerque Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Herald-Tribune and other newspapers. She wrote The Blackbirder in 1943.

Review:

    · "Nobody but Dorothy Hughes can cast suspense into such an uncanny spell." --San Francisco Chronicle 

   · "A gun molling wordslinger who took it to the tough guys... I simply call Hughes one damn good story teller." -- John Hood, Bully Magazine

About this edition

• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1558614680
• ISBN 13: 9781558614680
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288