One Wonderful Night: A Romance of New York

John Delancy Curtis has just stepped off a ship in New York, ready to rediscover the city of his childhood. Instead, he stumbles into a nightmare. In the span of a single evening, he witnesses a murder, seizes a marriage license from the dead man's pocket, and makes a decision that will change everything: he will deliver the tragic news himself to the woman named Hermione. What he finds is a desperate young woman trapped by her father's plans, about to marry a man she never wanted. In a moment of rash chivalry, Curtis offers himself as an alternative. Thus begins one of the most improbable romances in early 20th century fiction. Tracy writes with the breathless pacing of a dime thriller and the wit of a drawing-room comedy, weaving together murder, mistaken identity, and an unlikely courtship against the glittering backdrop of Manhattan. The result is a book that never stops moving, that treats love as both ridiculous and essential, and that proves sometimes the best stories begin with the worst timing.