From Here to Fourteenth Street, by Diana Rubino

It's 1894 on New York's Lower East Side. Irish cop Tom McGlory and Italian immigrant Vita Caputo fall in love despite their different upbringings. Vita goes from sweatshop laborer to respected bank clerk to reformer, helping elect a mayor to beat the Tammany machine.

While Tom works undercover to help Ted Roosevelt purge police corruption, Vita's father arranges a marriage between her and a man she despises. As Vita and Tom work together against time and prejudice to clear her brother and father of a murder they didn't commit, they know their love can survive poverty, hatred, and corruption. 

Wild Women Authors is pleased to welcome back historical author, Diana Rubino to the blog. This week we feature “From Here to Fourteenth Street” Book One in her New York Saga, released by the Wild Rose Press. Accompanying Diana is Vita Caputo, a woman of character and bravery and promise. .

Where are you from? Sassano, Italy, originally, now living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

What did you think the first time you saw police officer Tom McGlory. I thought “I am in big trouble” because he nabbed me on the street. I’d tried to stop a pickpocketer from robbing a man, and Tom, a beat cop, thought I was doing the pickpocketing.

Makes sense, considering the rampant bias against immigrants in that era. What was your second thought? As I trembled, my second thought was that he had the sharpest green eyes I’d ever seen.

Good one. Was it love at first sight? Not at all—it was hostility and fear at first sight.

What do you like most about him? His refusal to let the danger of police work stop him, and his aspirations to become Chief of Police.

How would you describe Tom? Honest, sincere, and dedicated to the police force.

How would he describe you? An ambitious hard worker who wants the best for this city. He knows I want to be a Senator or Congresswoman, but I’m happy enough as a committeewoman for now.

What made you choose politics as a career? I want to make a difference in the city that adopted me and gave me a new life and the opportunity to achieve success. I also want to lead my fellow citizens to a better life through my efforts to clean up the corrupt city government and make sure the poor have a better life than they do now.

What is your biggest fear? Flying—I will never set foot in an airplane.

How do you relax? By listening to opera records and attempting to sing the female parts. My favorites are Madama Butterfly by Puccini and The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.

Who is your favorite fictional character? Anna Karenina—the bravest woman in literature.

Why are we not surprised. What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Be realistic and don’t be shattered if you don’t become president.

Thank you for spending time with us, Vita. We wish you luck with your political career and the new baby. [oops, spoiler alert!] Now, we'd like to chat with Diana.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? When I started writing historicals, my greatest influences were Bertrice Small. Her book Blaze Wyndham inspired me to write my first historical. I also like Sharon Kay Penman and Philippa Gregory. Every book of theirs I read inspired me to become the best historical novelist I could be.

What event in your private life were you able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? My great-grandmother, known as Josie Red because of her head of thick red hair, was a successful businesswoman—she owned apartment buildings, a parking garage, did small-time bootlegging during Prohibition, and served as a Committeewoman in Jersey City. I based Vita on her.

How did you come up with the title? When I proposed the story to Wild Rose, I wanted to change the title, since it went through so many revisions. I wanted to express Vita’s desire to escape the Lower East Side and move farther uptown. I considered Crossing 14^th Street, but it sounded too much like Crossing Delancey. After a few more hits and misses, the title hit me—as all really fitting titles do.

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? I’d read many books by The Wild Rose Press before I submitted to them. My first book with them wasn’t a historical—it’s an urban fantasy, Fakin' It. They published most of my later historicals, and I’ve been very happy with them.

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I am about to start Young Lincoln of New Salem by Sam Rowlins. I’ve been a huge Lincoln buff since childhood, and Sam posted about it on my Chat & Promote page on Facebook. I bought it immediately. I have about 100 other books on TBR pile, that would take up much too much space!

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? I’m finishing the first draft of Much Has Been Given Us, about Edith Roosevelt and her husband, Theodore. I haven’t sent it to my agent yet, but I hope it will be released later this year.

Diana brought an excerpt from From Here to Fourteenth Street:

     As Vita gathered her soap and towel, Madame Branchard tapped on her door. "You have a gentleman caller, Vita. A policeman."

     “Tom?" His name lingered on her lips as she repeated it. She dropped her things and crossed the room.

     "No, hon, not him. Another policeman. Theodore something, I think he said."

     No. There can't be anything wrong. "Thanks," she whispered, nudging Madame Branchard aside. She descended the steps, gripping the banister to support her wobbly legs. Stay calm! she warned herself. But of course it was no use; staying calm just wasn't her nature.

     “Theodore something” stood before the closed parlor door. He’s a policeman? Tall and hefty, a bold pink shirt peeking out of a buttoned waistcoat and fitted jacket, he looked way out of place against the dainty patterned wallpaper.

     He removed his hat. "Miss Caputo." He strained to keep his voice soft as he held out a piece of paper. “I’m police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt.”

     "Yes?" Her voice shook.

     "I have a summons for you, Miss Caputo." He held it out to her. But she stood rooted to that spot.

     He stepped closer and she took it from him, unfolding it with icy fingers. Why would she be served with a summons? Was someone arresting her now for something she didn't do?

     A shot of anger tore through her at this system, at everything she wanted to change. She flipped it open and saw the word "Summons" in fancy script at the top. Her eyes widened with each sentence as she read. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

     I hereby order Miss Vita Caputo to enter into holy matrimony with Mr. Thomas McGlory immediately following service of this summons.

For more information on Diana Rubino, go to:

Website: www.dianarubino.com

Blog: www.dianarubinoauthor.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianaRubinoAuthor/?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianaLRubino

To purchase From Here to Fourteenth Street, go to:

getBook.at/NewYorkSagaBookOne

A note from our guest:

     New York City’s history always fascinated me—how it became the most powerful hub in the world from a sprawling wilderness in exchange for $24 with Native Americans by the Dutch in 1626.

     Growing up in Jersey City, I could see the Statue of Liberty from our living room window if I leaned way over (luckily I didn’t lean too far over). As a child model, I spent many an afternoon on job interviews and modeling assignments in the city, and got hooked on Nedick’s, a fast food chain whose orange drinks were every kid’s dream. Even better than the vanilla egg creams. We never drove to the city—we either took the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) train (‘the tube’ in those days) or the bus through the Lincoln Tunnel to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

     My great grandmother, Josephine Arnone, “Josie Red” to her friends, because of her abundant head of red hair, was way ahead of her time. Born in 1895 (but it could’ve been sooner, as she was known to lie about her age), she left grade school, became a successful businesswoman and a Jersey City committee-woman, as well as a wife and mother of four. She owned apartment buildings, parking garages, a summer home, did a bit of Prohibition-era bootlegging, small-time loan-sharking, and paid cash for everything.

     When I began outlining From Here to Fourteenth Street, I modeled my heroine, Vita Caputo, after her. Although the story is set in New York the year before Grandma was born, I was able to bring Vita to life by calling on the family legends and stories, all word of mouth, for she never kept a journal.

     Vita’s hero Tom McGlory isn’t based on any real person, but I did a lot of reading about Metropolitan Policemen and made sure he was the complete opposite! He’s trustworthy and would never take a bribe or graft. I always liked the name McGlory—then, years after the book first came out, I remembered that was the name of my first car mechanic—Ronnie McGlory.

A Bit of Background—What Was 1894 New York City Like?

     The Metropolitan Police was a hellhole of corruption, and nearly every cop, from the greenest rookie to the Chief himself, was a dynamic part of what made the wheels of this great machine called New York turn.

     The department was in cahoots with the politicians, all the way up to the mayor's office. Whoever wasn't connected enough to become a politician became a cop in this city. They were paid off in pocket-bulging wads of cash to look the other way when it came to building codes, gambling, prostitution, every element it took to keep this machine gleaming and efficient. They oiled the machine and kept it running with split-second precision. The ordinary hardworking, slave-wage earning citizen didn't have a chance around here. Tom McGlory and his father were two of a kind, and two of a sprinkling of cops who were cops for the right reasons.

     They left him alone because he was a very private person; he didn't have any close friends, he confided in no one. He could've made a pocket full of rocks as a stoolie, more than he could by jumping in the fire with the rest of them, but he couldn't enjoy spending it if he'd made it that way. They knew it and grudgingly respected him for it. He was here for one reason--his family was here. If they went, he went. As long as they needed him, here he was. Da would stop grieving for his wife when he stopped breathing. Since Tom knew he was the greatest gift she gave Da, he would never let his father down.