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Elixir of the Incas
Historical novel set in the raucous entertainment world of 1890's New York.
Billy Brannigan, handsome, brash and savvy at age 20, arrives in New York in 1893 fresh off the stage of Primrose and West minstrels. He seeks stardom on the gas-lit stages of New York's bawdy music halls and vaudeville theaters after spending years honing his skills and learning the ballyhoo needed to peddle the cure-all "medicine" Elixir of the Incas in Doc Noble's traveling medicine show.
With his junior partner, Daniel Baron, two years younger, he forms an act--Baron and Brannigan--Song and Dance, and they begin their quest for fame on the vaudeville circuits. They mix with talented acts, willing showgirls, colorful song-writers, and meet many of the famous personalities of the fabulous Gilded Age, including John L. Sullivan, Victor Herbert and Tony Pastor. And each finds love but discovers that love, like life, seldom follows the path chosen.
The question is, can Billy's relentless thirst for fame, wealth and respect conquer the calamities that befall him--lost career, lost love, failed friendship, intense personal conflict, even a charge of murder? Billy will have to use all the skills and ballyhoo that Doc Noble taught him to finally reach his goal.
Billy Brannigan, handsome, brash and savvy at age 20, arrives in New York in 1893 fresh off the stage of Primrose and West minstrels. He seeks stardom on the gas-lit stages of New York's bawdy music halls and vaudeville theaters after spending years honing his skills and learning the ballyhoo needed to peddle the cure-all "medicine" Elixir of the Incas in Doc Noble's traveling medicine show.
With his junior partner, Daniel Baron, two years younger, he forms an act--Baron and Brannigan--Song and Dance, and they begin their quest for fame on the vaudeville circuits. They mix with talented acts, willing showgirls, colorful song-writers, and meet many of the famous personalities of the fabulous Gilded Age, including John L. Sullivan, Victor Herbert and Tony Pastor. And each finds love but discovers that love, like life, seldom follows the path chosen.
The question is, can Billy's relentless thirst for fame, wealth and respect conquer the calamities that befall him--lost career, lost love, failed friendship, intense personal conflict, even a charge of murder? Billy will have to use all the skills and ballyhoo that Doc Noble taught him to finally reach his goal.
356 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2015
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