book details

Book: In the City by the Lake by Taylor Saracen

categories: Book, LGBT, Gay, Chicago, Pansy Craze, Romance, American History, Literary Fiction, Prohibition, Transgender, Historical Fiction

Taylor Saracen

about this book: In the City by the Lake is a historical fiction novel that explores the Pansy Craze—a pivotal, yet oft overlooked period in American history.

From the late 1920s to early 1930s, gay clubs and drag balls were commonplace, and celebrated, in major U.S. cities. The popularity of these queer establishments facilitated an acceptance that LGBT people would struggle for decades to regain.

Narrated by a twenty-one-year-old closeted mobster living in Chicago during the Capone days, In the City by the Lake tells of life on the brink of an LGBT revolution and The Great Depression that stalled the trajectory of the movement.

The Pansy Craze was an important period in American history that needs to be acknowledged and discussed. It has been said if we don't remember the troublesome spots in history, we are doomed to repeat it. The conversation starts here.

It took me thirty-five days to write this novel. I'm typically a fast writer, but this was particularly speedy. I was incredibly inspired. I fell in love with Viktor and Cal and hope you do, too.