One Night, New York by debut author Lara Thompson is a noir historical fiction filled with gritty descriptive prose of the underbelly nightlife of NYC's Lower East End, Harlem and Greenwich Village where the gangsters mingled with artsy celebrities.

Frances is our ingénue escaping an abusive father to live with her older brother in 1930s NYC. She discovers a brother with deadly secrets, corrupt politicians, the allure of hidden speakeasies and the love of a woman.

Narrated by Stephanie Cannon with the feel of a James Cagney movie we feel the urgency, pain and hope as Frances deals with sexism, racism and, one night, murder.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publishers via #Netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book has it all: corruption, abuse, drugs, romance, murder, revenge. It's a dark thriller, set in a dark time in a crime-wrapped NYC.

A few short years after the worst day in the history of New York, the big city is thriving and growing at a rapid speed. But the streets of New York are dangerous. the day Frances has followed her brother's footsteps and arrived in New York, she has realized - she is not in Kansas anymore. But the bright lights, fancy parties, and new friends didn't save young Frances from heartbreak. After stumbling upon her dead brother's body, all Frances could think of was revenge.

Besides the gripping yet tragic story of a Kansas girl, I've enjoyed the good old New York: the author was able to describe the city in such a great way. I felt like I was walking thru the dirty and smelly streets of new york, having drinks in an illegal speakeasy, listening to old-school jazz, and dancing my night away. A captivating read, perfect for historical book lovers. Thank you NetGalley and Virago publisher for a free and advanced copy of the novel.

Reader Review: One Night, New York by Lara Thompson
-- Debut novel --
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Publication date: Dec 23, 2021 (COMING SOON!)
Thanks to @NetGalley and @DreamscapeMedia for the advanced audiobook.

When I saw this title and the beautiful cover 😍 I knew I had to listen to One Night, New York. I am definitely drawn to books with a New York City setting.

This story pulls you right in to one night in 1930’s NYC with the hint of two women who were wronged and are now seeking revenge on the man responsible. That’s intriguing enough but there is so much more to this story as the background of the characters is explored.

I will say that at times I thought it was moving a little slower than I would have liked but overall it came together in the end. I kept thinking it must be what it was like listening to an old time radio show given the setting of the 1930’s, the type of characters, the mystery and suspense. All the detailed descriptions really helped bring the story to life in the audio version. #StephanieCannon did an exceptional job as the narrator.

3.5/5 ⭐️

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When you start a book titled One Night, New York, which the publisher describes as being set “over the course of a single night,” you’d think the story would take place… over the course of a single night, right? Wrong.

While the novel does open atop the newly-built Empire State Building on a freezing cold evening in December 1932, it quickly ping pongs back in time to reveal what led our main character, Frances, and her friend Agnes to be there on the verge of murder. Readers follow her journey from dysfunctional family farm life in rural Kansas to the tenements of NYC, where she joins her older brother and tries to start anew.

One Night, New York is billed as a literary thriller, and I suppose it is. I’m shelving it as historical fiction though, because it reignited my desire to read books that take place in other time periods. I was less interested in the story itself than the superb atmosphere and surprising characterization achieved by debut novelist Lara Thompson. For the time I spent with Frances in her world (which, I’ll note again, was NOT just one night), I felt deeply immersed in Depression-era New York and its melting pot of humanity.

The audiobook is narrated by Stephanie Cannon, and I would like to applaud her choice to avoid attempting to sound like men while reading the male dialogue. Well done, Ms. Cannon.

And Ms. Thompson too, of course.

My thanks to Dreamscape Media for the gifted audiobook review copy. One Night, New York is now available in print and will be released on audio in the US on December 23.

This was clever and interesting; I enjoyed reading it.


Review copy provided by publisher.


(Adding unnecessary words here to meet the arbitrary minimum word limit.)

It's 1932 and Francis from Kansas (a tired cliché from this Kansas native, but I digress), leaves her abusive home to follow her brother to New York. On the train, she meets an eclectic couple who live in the boho Greenwich Village and can't stay away from their artistic and freewheeling vibe. Here she meets Agnes, the one with whom we hear in the first chapter Francis is plotting to push a man over the edge of the Empire State Building.

This had so much going for it for me, but it just never quite hit the mark for a Wow read. First, I thought the story would be a literal one night story, which I thought would be fantastic...but it wasn't. The tension culminated on that one night, but most of the story is the lead up. The love story also felt a bit forced. Francis is super naïve in all ways except, apparently, one. This felt incongruous to me. Did I mention the trope of Kansas girl in over her head in the big city?

All this said, the story had good noir bones. Speakeasies, atmosphere, danger and bohemian artists all contribute. I did enjoy listening to this story. I think I just had higher expectations for this one. I would like to see what this debut author will write next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ALC.

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to review this audio.

I found this book misleading and confusing. The description made me think it was going to be a murder mystery. It touched upon it, BUT, was this a coming of age? LGBTQ romance? A robbery story? Abuse story? A makeover of a farm girl from Kansas? I just wasn't sure what I was reading? Good narrator and some interesting characters though .

I loved that this book was like two stories in one. Flashing back between current day (the "crime"), and the build up. One thing I will say is that the synopsis is misleading a bit. I was under the impression based on the synopsis that the entire book takes place in one day, and it doesn't. It was also introduced as a thriller but I found it to be mostly contemporary fiction with a thrilling end. I listened to the audiobook and the emphasis on the thriller of it didn't start until about 60%.

I loved the characters of Frances and Agnes. Although so different, they were both so enticing in their own ways.

The audio quality was fantastic. It gave me very "1920s movie stars" vibes, and it aligned so well with taking place in New York.

Highly recommend!

3.5 stars

A young woman flees abuse & the poverty-stricken dust bowl for the lights of New York, getting caught up in the seedy underworld of speakeasies & corrupt politics. This is well written with strong characters & a style & structure that pulled me in. The ending fell a bit flat for me, but overall I liked it.

[What I liked:]

•The characters are great, memorable & distinct. I really liked Frances, the MC, for her honesty & resilience. Everyone in this story has secrets & regrets that shape their character development & feed into the story’s momentum.

•This story is really sad, but it managed to engage me emotionally with some difficult content without becoming OTT tragic or melodramatic in tone. The quiet sadness balanced with the MC’s resilience & will to survive worked well.

•The way the story is structured worked well for me, even though I generally dislike dual timelines. Knowing a sinister plot was afoot at the start, but not knowing what was being planned for whom or why, was compelling. The secrets & details also weren’t drawn out for so long as to get annoying.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•I’m not sure why the novel fudged the historical facts surrounding the Jimmy Walker scandal. In reality, he resigned in early September & went to Europe until things blew over; he did not stay mayor until December or go to jail.

•The ending felt a bit flat, in the sense that it felt lacking in emotional resolution. It felt really bleak (from Frances’ POV), which didn’t sync well with the promise of finding a new life for herself in Paris.

•The romance didn’t feel forced, exactly, but it didn’t feel necessary either. I think the story could’ve worked just as well if Frances & Agnes had just been friends. Since they were supposed to be lovers, I would have appreciated more nuance to their attraction/relationship development; it just felt rather sudden, especially since Frances was initially so uncomfortable/unfamiliar with even the idea of queer relationships.

CW: domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse, child death, incest, racism, PTSD, substance abuse, suicide, murder, sex trafficking, ableism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

This book was a mediocre read for me. In addition, I was turned off by the author’s fat shaming a character. The story itself was quite lethargic for me.

I really enjoyed the coming-of-age aspect of this book set in New York City in the 1930s, but the romance and detective story fell flat for me. I was engaged throughout the story, but I didn't feel like much happened overall. After investing all the time at the beginning of the book, I really felt like the end was rushed, including the climax. If I was asked to give a suggestion to make this book better, I would say spread the details throughout the whole novel.

One Night, New York by Lara Thompson, culminates in one very SPECIFIC night in which two women plot revenge on someone who has wronged, not only them, but multiple people in dastardly evil acts including murder in the name of greed and reputation.

The story is set in 1930's Depression-era, New York City, and follows Kansas girl (Francis) who leaves her family behind, mainly because of an abusive father and joins her brother in New York. Frances is poor and can't read, but is not necessarily unintelligent. While traveling from Kansas to New York by way of train, she meets a man and woman (Dickie and Jax) who want to befriend her. Eventually, the couple offer her employment if she’s willing to be photographed. Little does Frances realize at the time, meeting this couple and life in New York will contribute to major life changing events that will impact her life forever....especially on One Night in New York.

Audio Narration: The story was read at good pace by narrator Stephanie Cannon. Ms. Cannon has a pleasant voice - easy to understand. However, being familiar with both Kansas and New York accents, neither was applied to any of the characters. (For me, it was like being around a Brit, expecting the distinctive British accent, but the person doesn’t talk that way at all.) In my opinion, had the narrator been able to master either male/female voices with proper accents and modulation, the story would have definitely been brought to better life and earned higher ratings for the audio version.

Notes: This story contains references or situations to: drug and alcohol abuse, incest, brief explicit sex, LBGTQIA.

Disclosure: I was provided an AAC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

First of all, the description is insanely misleading. It's not "set over the course of a single night," it's set across a couple of months with a handful of flash-forwards to the night in question. And the vast majority of those play a frustrating pronoun game to avoid revealing who their target is (he, him, the man who had just arrived, the man in the doorway, the man they were speaking about). Even when the man is present, the author refuses to reveal his identity to the point where it became ludicrous.

The rest of the book was fine. Standard level historical fiction. Agnes was a great character, and I liked Jax more than I thought I would. But on the whole, it felt like the book never lived up to its summary.

One Night, New York is set in Depression-era New York City and follows Kansas girl Francis who leaves her abusive family and joins her brother in New York, but the big city offers her a new set of problems.

I'd like to thank this book for helping me realize why I don't like adult historical fiction. Even if an author writes strong female characters, they're still treated like total crap, and I've been treated like crap enough for being a woman. I don't need to read about it.

The story here is interesting, but I didn't really like Francis at all. Her naivete got really grating after a while. None of the other characters are supremely interesting either except for maybe Agnes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ALC. Stephanie Cannon was a great narrator, and I enjoyed her reading of One Night, New York.

I had a hard time listening to this book, I think I would’ve enjoyed it far more if I read it. The narrator has a nice voice and the story itself is fantastic. I just wasn’t able to engage as much as I would like to have. I am definitely planning on getting a physical copy to see if the experience is different.