Jean Burgess and Navigating Her Next Chapter: A Retro Novel
Author Jean Burgess with her novel and an A & W Root beer
About the Book: In 1981, Margie Stevens, a 26-year-old aspiring writer, moves from Maryland’s Eastern Shore to New York City. Initially overwhelmed by the contrasts between small town life and NYC, Margie takes a job at Radio City Music Hall to pay the bills while she slowly learns how to navigate city life with help from a menagerie of friends—a punk waitress from the neighborhood diner; a gay couple from her apartment building; a dreamy Hispanic man from her writing group; and her fashion-crazed roommate.
As the harsher aspects of living in the Big Apple—the cocaine crisis and a mysterious nameless disease—affect people she knows, and a huge anti-nuclear demonstration for world peace shakes her worldview, Margie’s writing pivots in a surprising new direction.
However, pressure from her father, with whom she has a troubled relationship, begins to wear on her, particularly when tragedy strikes within her “New York family.” Despite a budding romance with a fellow writer, Margie has to decide whether to stay on her New York career course or retreat home to Maryland and her Eastern Shore roots.
About the Beverage: Burgess recommends pairing her novel with an A & W Root Beer because “Root beer is mentioned in this 1980s Retro novel many times, often humorously. There's a specific reason that one of the characters drinks it, but...spoilers!”
About the Author: For over 40 years, Jean Burgess has told stories on stage as a theater director and actor. Her debut fiction, That Summer She Found Her Voice: A Retro Novel, was published in April 2024 by Apprentice House Press. The book has received 2024 Top Notable Title recognition by Shelf Unbound. The sequel, Navigating Her Next Chapter: A Retro Novel, will be released by Apprentice House in April 2026. Her contest-winning play, "Deleted," as well as two other short plays, is published in her book, Collaborative Stage Directing: A Guide to Creating and Managing a Positive Theatre Environment (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2019.) She leads writing workshops, freelances as an editor, and is available to speak on a variety of book and writing topics. Jean holds a Masters in Theatre from Northwestern University and Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University. Her professional memberships include The Authors Guild, Eastern Shore Writers' Association, and Maryland Writers' Association, for which she volunteers as a Teen Writing Club advisor.
NAVIGATING HER NEXT CHAPTER: A RETRO NOVEL is available at Bookshop.org and Amazon.
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