It Girl – Allison Pataki

Stanny is smiling, and now Mamma is, too. And then she does something unusual; she asks me how I feel. The honest truth is I could turn green with envy; I wish to see Kit every bit as badly as Mamma does. But I do realize that what they’ve both said is true: the company is expecting me to perform, and we’ve been warned that Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year for Broadway.

So I answer, “I will be fine.” And it’s true enough—I’m here in a hotel, not that ramshackle boardinghouse. I’ll have food to eat and work to keep me busy. If I get lonely I can ask Penny to spend the night with me, and I have no doubt she’d be thrilled to do so.

Besides, a reprieve of a few days from Mamma’s presence wouldn’t be so terrible. Mamma appears almost ready to accept Stanny’s outrageously generous offer, but he helps to seal her decision: “You deserve this, my dear Mrs. Talbot. I want you to worry about nothing. It’s all in my hands.” Mamma looks as though she could weep as she says, “I swear, you are sent to us from heaven.” With one quick, appreciative nod, her consent is given. Stanny smiles at Mamma before throwing me a wink, answering: “Evelyn knows I think heaven is a bit boring.”

— As November turns dark and gray, and the week of Mamma’s trip approaches, she sees to her packing and grows increasingly nervous about the idea of leaving me. “Perhaps I ought to stay,” she says on the eve of her departure. But I know how much she longs for this, and Kit does, as well.

Where the Light Falls (with Owen Pataki) Beauty in the Broken Places Nelly Takes New York (with Marya Myers) The Queen’s Fortune Poppy Takes Paris (with Marya Myers) The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post Finding Margaret Fuller It Girl OceanofPDF.com OceanofPDF.com OceanofPDF.com Ballantine Books An imprint of Random House A division of Penguin Random House LLC 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 randomhousebooks.com penguinrandomhouse.com Copyright © 2026 by Allison Pataki Levy Penguin Random House values and supports copyright.

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This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: a0229e7039118faf
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 3,968,645 bytes (3.785 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9780593873410, 9780593873427
• Pages: 412
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 660.58 minutes
• Total Words: 132,115
• Total Characters: 713,168
• Average Words per Page: 320.67
• Average Characters per Page: 1730.99

Most Frequent Words

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