5 stars for Do You Know Dorothy? by @vandawriter #LGBTQ #historicalfiction #bookreview #pride
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  • N. N. Light
    • Jun 29, 2021
    • 2 min read

5 stars for Do You Know Dorothy? by @vandawriter #LGBTQ #historicalfiction #bookreview #pride



Title: Do You Know Dorothy?

Author: Vanda

Genre: LGBTQ Historical Fiction


Book Blurb:


Can a group of aging drag queens save a nightclub from going under?


It's 1956 and television is stealing Alice's nightclub audience. Known as Al to everyone in the club scene, she has to try to prevent the mob from taking over her crippled club and turning it into a strip joint.


Her one solace: Juliana, the woman who haunts her memories and fuels her dreams of a brighter future. But the last time Al saw her was the day Juliana's husband caught them in bed together.


On the brink of losing her love and her livelihood, Al makes a bold decision. She arranges an extravagant production starring aging female impersonators, even though funding the show means going into debt.


Will the show succeed in saving her club and helping her find her way back to Juliana? Or will Al's big risk result in losing everything?


DO YOU KNOW DOROTHY? is the fifth book in the Juliana series of historical LGBT fiction, but you can also enjoy it as a standalone novel.


My Review:


Alice, known in the club scene as Al, struggles to keep her nightclub afloat but when mobsters come calling, she’ll have a tough decision. With the popularity of television in the mid-fifties dwindling her audience, Al knows she needs to draw her audience in somehow. She concocts a brilliant idea for a show using older drag queens with lavish set designs. The pressure grows as mobsters try to buy her club in order to open a strip club. Her life spirals out of control yet her thoughts center on the love of her life, Juliana. The last time she was with Juliana turned out rather badly. Can Al and her friends do the impossible and save the nightclub or will disaster force Al to give up?


Do You Know Dorothy? is a brilliant story that needs to be told. The 1950s were a tumultuous time for the LGBTQ community. It was illegal to be queer and the consequences were devastating. People lost jobs, homes, money, and even their lives. This sense of fear presents itself in different ways among the characters. Add in the descriptive narration, a perfectly paced plot and you’ve got an engrossing read. I adored the characters, especially Al. The pitfalls and obstacles she endured did nothing to deter her. She is the heart and soul of Do You Know Dorothy?. Vanda is a gifted writer and I applaud her for writing about such a difficult time period for the LGBTQ community. Every reader, whether queer or straight, needs to read this book. I can’t wait to see what happens next.


My Rating: 5 stars


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Author Biography:


Vanda is an author whose life’s mission is to honor LGBT history: to let people, gay and straight, know that the LGBT community shares a rich cultural history that is as important and as valid as any other minority group’s history.


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Reviewed by: Mrs. N

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