Out of the Easy is a 2013 novel by Ruta Sepetys. It is her second published novel[1] and was listed as a 2014 Best Children's Book of the Year from the Children's Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education.[2]

Out of the Easy
First edition (US)
AuthorRuta Sepetys
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical fiction
PublisherPhilomel Books
Publication date
2013
Media typePrint
Pages346
ISBN039925692X

It features Josie Moraine, a young woman in the 1950s French Quarter of New Orleans who struggles to escape her family and become the author of her own destiny. The novel became a New York Times bestseller and was listed as an Editor's Choice in the New York Times on February 15, 2013.[3]

Sepetys has said that Out of the Easy was born from her discovery of the biography The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld and her interest in post-war America, which, contrary to her expectations, was full of "suffering and secrets."[4] She also attributes her interest in New Orleans to a gift of vintage opera glasses with an engraved name, enabling her to find out who the original owner was.[5] As with all her books, Sepetys undertook several research trips, which led her to discover news articles about "tourists who met an untimely end"; she later worked this into the novel.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys - Penguin Books USA". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  2. ^ "Best Children's Books of the Year". Bank Street College of Education. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  3. ^ "Editors' Choice". The New York Times. 2013-02-15. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  4. ^ Lynn Green. "Ruta Sepetys: Life isn't so easy for her unlikely heroine". bookpage.com. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  5. ^ Rhys Jones (17 May 2013). "An Interview With Ruta Sepetys transcript". thirstforfiction.com. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  6. ^ Ingrid Roper. "Q & A with Ruta Sepetys". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2015-02-10.