Royal Palm Literary Award Winner

“This is a remarkable historical novel... The story is riveting. The language is absolutely delightfully reminiscent of the flapper era. Everything these people say and think is worth the reader's attention. I did not want to stop reading.” —Judge’s comments

Ragtime is old hat, World War I is over, and the Roaring Twenties are underway.

In the aftermath of World War I, flappers are in full evidence in both America and Europe. Youth live like there is no tomorrow, especially Cherie, who left Taos, New Mexico, seventeen years ago for Paris, never intending to go back. But while visiting her sister in New York, a telegram brings word that an old friend, Morgan, is dying. Ragtime dudes Morgan and Jack, with wife Abigail, helped Cherie and her sister when their mother died. Now it’s time to repay the favor.

They arrive in Taos to find that Abigail is overwhelmed. Jack is in denial about Morgan’s fate, and Abigail’s son, Cyrus, is suffering from shell-shock—like many veterans Cherie saw in Paris. The calmest one of the lot is Morgan.

Touched by Cyrus’s plight, Cherie nurtures him. It’s not long before they fall in love. Abigail fears that once Cherie returns to Paris, Cyrus will be worse off than before. Cherie misunderstands and thinks mother hen wants her out of the picture.

When Bryce, another friend from the days of ragtime, arrives, Morgan experiences a brief rally and asks to be driven to a place in the Taos Mountains he’s always found spiritual. On the mountaintop, the Parisian flapper, the ragtime dudes, and their strange, extended family find themselves at the threshold of a thin place in this charming sequel to Ragtime Dudes in a Thin Place.