‘Dollface’ a wild tale of the romantic Roaring ‘20s
With the popularity of “Boardwalk Empire” and “The Great Gatsby,” fans can return to the Roaring Twenties with “Dollface” by Renee Rosen.
Vera Abramowitz is a “modern” woman – a bobbed-haired, short-skirted flapper who lives in a boarding house with other young single women, including her childhood best friend, Evelyn. They work in an office together (while Vera also works several different jobs at night) and also go to the local speakeasies and nightclubs, dancing and drinking with many handsome men. After living a life of poverty, raised by a single mom who worked in a meat-packing plant, Vera is determined to never live that life again.
At one of the clubs that gets raided (this is the time of Prohibition after all), Vera meets handsome gambler Tony who saves her. Later, at one of her jobs, she is rescued from a debt by a handsome man who turns out to be club owner Shep Green. Vera is swept away by both men, by their glamourous lifestyle, and soon learns they aren’t exactly on the straight and narrow path of the law – Tony works for Capone and Shep is his rival. While neither is really offering to commit to Vera, can she really date two gangsters on opposite sides?
Vera is finally forced to make a choice when she ends up pregnant. She goes to Tony first, who offers to help and then disappears. She turns to Shep, and is soon his wife. Plunged headlong into the lifestyle of a gun moll turned wife, she soon learns the ups and downs of that world. She is cautioned to keep a little money to herself in case Shep should ever face time, and soon finds out firsthand how quickly her lavish lifestyle can go away. Lost and alone, Vera again turns to Tony and turns to bootlegging. But being caught between two men can have deadly consequences, and as Valentine’s Day draws nearer, who will Vera stand with?
This is a wild tale of romance, danger and glamour, all told during the Roaring Twenties. Though all flawed, the characters also somehow manage to all be sympathetic. This lavish story of crime rivals and romantic rivals would be a great movie!