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Start giftingThe Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana
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Learn moreAn electrifying novel about a woman in thrall to the exhilarating rhythms of Manhattan, lost in the dizzying promise of youth, and fatally naive to the dark pressures of fame.
When Rolling Stone journalist Kayla McCray is assigned a cover story on pop icon Lexi Mayhem, Kayla stumbles across a startling new angle to the exposé. Years ago, another rising star from Lexi’s past mysteriously leaped to her death. Some things are better off forgotten, Lexi says. Kayla disagrees.
It’s 2005 and Ava Petrova moves to New York with a notebook full of songs and a dream. Then she meets Lexi, an up-and-coming singer who brands Ava with an enigmatic new stage name and introduces her to an intoxicating city alive with possibilities. From fast friends and kindred spirits to creative muses and inseparable soul mates, Ava and Lexi embark on a parallel journey to stardom, but there is room for only one at the top.
As past and present converge, Kayla chases the ghost of a young woman doomed by betrayal and erased by a secret, and unravels the truth that it takes more than ambition to become a star.
Jennifer Banash is a former professor of English and creative writing, and author of the novels Silent Alarm, a finalist for the American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults; White Lines; Simply Irresistible; In Too Deep; and The Elite. Jennifer is also the former cofounder and editor of Impetus Press, a small, independent publishing house that championed works of literary fiction with a pop edge. A native New Yorker, her first apartment was an illegal sublet located next door to the Hells Angels’ former headquarters on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. For more information, visit www.jennifer-banash.com.
Reviews
“Read-in-one-sitting…Banash masterfully interweaves guilt, love, remorse, and yearning with a bit of playfulness, creating a tale that is multifaceted in its content and spirit.” —Booklist
“Banash’s sublime new stunner immerses us in an intoxicating female friendship between two young singers, each striving for pop stardom, until one of them suspiciously dies, later leading a Rolling Stone journalist to dig out the truth no one seems to want uncovered. A psychological why-done-it about the glittering allure and tragic cost of fame, and the heady bliss of bonding, all set against an unforgettable soundtrack of love and deception.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You and Pictures of You
“Gritty, propulsive, and complex, Banash paints a vivid picture of two young women navigating their way through the dark side of the music industry and the journalist who uncovers their shocking truth years later. I found myself completely transported into Banash’s world of glittering stages, bright city lights, and deeply nuanced, compelling characters. The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana is an addictive read that will leave you wanting more.” —Julia Spiro, author of Full and Someone Else’s Secret
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