Wade Beauchamp
Author
Wright Williams has it all. Heir to the Taxi cigarette fortune, the young playboy’s life is a whirligig of speed, Ziegfeld Girls, and bathtub gin. Then, he sees Broadway’s sultriest torch singer, Bizzy Holt, and realizes he has nothing at all. Obsessed, Wright finds himself competing for Bizzy’s affections with Allard Chemical heiress Lucy Conrad. Impervious to Prohibition and the Great Depression, the millionaire-daredevil pursues the libertine chanteuse around the globe by yacht, automobile, and seaplane. From neon-lit Paris nightclubs to smoky Manhattan speakeasies to Macao opium dens, we ride shotgun with Wright on an ever-steeper spiral into paranoia, fetish, and jealousy.
Now available!
"Beauchamp’s writing is superlative. He’s clearly not only in love with words, but he is a master of using them to great effect. There is a curiously mesmerizing quality to the narrative. Brilliantly lyrical."
Lynn Picknett, author of The Templar Revelation
Praise & Reviews
"Richly textured prose. Punchy and evocative. Fully stocked with sharply etched characters and an obsessive attention to detail. Fun and dangerous."
Kirkus Reviews
"Revels in its weirdness and jealousy and competitiveness, with a fierce, driven, urgent intensity at the heart of the weirdness, an almost-angry tension that makes the story both arousing and believable."
Greta Christina, author of The Way of the Heathen
News
Come hang out with me on Saturday, July 13 at 6:00pm at The Bookhouse in Winston-Salem's Reynolda Village. I'll be reading from The Purple Menace and the Tobacco Prince within hollering distance of where the real events that inspired the novel took place! Come on out, support a great local indie bookstore, and then take a stroll in Smith Reynolds' and Libby Holman's footsteps from the boathouse up to the bungalow while being serenaded by cicadas. See you this summer!
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The Bookhouse
120-A Reynolda Village Way
Winston-Salem, NC 27106
Reading and Signing at The Bookhouse
Talking with WXII's Kelly Kendall at Reynolda House
I recently chatted with WXII's Kelly Kendall about local history, writing, and The Purple Menace and the Tobacco Prince while strolling the grounds at Winston-Salem's Reynolda House, the inspiration for the setting of the book's climax. Watch here!
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I'll be signing copies of The Purple Menace and the Tobacco Prince at Stardust Cellar's N.C. Author Book Fair on Saturday, March 23 from noon to 6:00pm. The event is free to attend and, unlike the characters in the book, who are stuck smack dab in the middle of Prohibition, you won't need a password to get something to drink. Stardust will have their own wine and mead available, domestic and craft beers, as well as soda and mocktail options. Come on out and say hey!
N.C. Author Book Fair
at Stardust Cellars
Join me on March 16th at 2 pm at Book Ferret! I'll be reading from The Purple Menace and the Tobacco Prince, talking about my inspirations, answering questions, and signing copies of the book. Come on out and support a great local indie bookstore.
See you there!
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Book Ferret
Sherwood Plaza
3354 Robinhood Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27106
Book Ferret reading and signing
Tune in to WTOB on Wednesday, March 6 at 6:00pm as I talk to Tim Clodfelter about The Purple Menace and the Tobacco Prince. I'll be a guest on Tim's weekly program, Wow! That's Fun Tim, where he talks about the arts, pop culture, music, events and activities in Winston-Salem. Tim is a fellow Camel City history buff and I'm looking forward to diving into some sordid local history on-air!
Tune in locally at 96.7 FM, 980 AM, 1470 AM, or listen live online here.
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