Speakeasy

Ingold's warm-hearted debut is set in Prohibition-Era New York City that's more gentle than gritty. After Heath Johnson graduates from Yale, his socialite family is ready to immediately guide him into a traditional marriage and a junior position in his father's Wall Street firm. But his college friends Frankie and Julian, on a hunch that something else might suit him better, connect Heath to a speakeasy for men who are interested in men. He begins a secret romance with proprietor and bartender Art while his parents are distracted by his sister's upcoming nuptials. To play it safe, he also introduces them to Ginny, a young woman willing to pose as Heath's beau. Ingold writes both collegial masculinity and the generation gap well, and her text is peppered with just enough period slang to give flavor without feeling contrived. Scenes of the secret city, stolen kisses in closed subway stations, and hidden doors in the backs of barbershops add a sense of adventure without wildness%E2%80%94Ingold's heroes, except for their orientation, are relatively mainstream young men. (Feb.)