A bootlegger’s daughter falls into a world of Tin Pan Alley music and mystery in this unapologetic exploration of friendships, motherhood, and the way women care for each other.
“Poor quiet Violet, poor shrinking Violet, used to being cared for. Now there’s no way around it. She must face the world like a real adult. Like an heiress.”
Violet Radford, an introverted songwriter, is no stranger to grief. She’s lost her mother, her best friend Minnow, and now her father. Growing up in the early 1900s and into the late ’20s Prohibition era—when giggle water, speakeasies, and the fight for women’s rights are the talk of the town—Violet is sober, disconnected, and adrift. It’s only a matter of time before she loses herself in the solitude of her New Jersey estate.
Everything changes when Sally, Minnow’s trouser-wearing teenage daughter, comes knocking, hoping to uncover the truth behind the explosion that killed Violet’s father. With the door to friendship open, Sally and Violet search for the truth. Drawn into a deeper mystery, they stumble upon a discovery that threads a transformative counterpoint through the rhythm of their lives—a secret society of women called The Neighborhood Dames working just beneath the surface, hacking away at the patriarchy.
A dual timeline chock-full of brave women who defy societal expectations, The Neighborhood Dames is a stirring exploration of friendship, music, and womanhood. Perfect for readers looking for queer and neurodivergent representation, and stories of fighting against oppression, Laura Stanfill evokes The Great Gatsby in a storyline that centers on women’s ambitions, self-discovery, and connections beyond romance.
Author Bio
Laura Stanfill is a book publisher, author, and lifelong believer in the magic of community. She runs Forest Avenue Press and is the author of Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary, a whimsical historical novel, and Imagine a Door, a creative guide for writers. She grew up playing pinball in an English Tudor in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, sharpened her storytelling skills as an award-winning journalist in Virginia and Oregon, and attended the Yale Publishing Course thanks to a scholarship from the Independent Book Publishers Association. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she’s received two Oregon Literary Fellowships in Publishing—among other accolades—and she wears a sparkly top hat when walking her dog, Waffles.
Product Details
- ISBN-13 (Print): 9781947845671
- ISBN-13 (eBook): 9781947845688
- Publisher: Ooligan Press
- Publication Date: November 10, 2026
- Format: Trade Paperback (also available in eBook)
- Product Dimensions: 5.5″ x 8.5″
- Page Count: 368
