Under the Mink Book

New York City, 1949. At the Candy Box Club, the gayest nightspot in Greenwich Village, the show is about to begin. In white tie and tails, emcee Blackie Cole takes the stage, warming up the crowd of high-brows, racketeers, and hookers with a song and a smile. Applause erupts as a chorus line in pink chiffon high-kicks into the lights. But in this club, three steps below the street, the world is upside down. Blackie Cole is Blanche Cohen, and the chorus line is led by a stunning dark-eyed boy named Titanic. And beneath the veneer of glamour and celebrity glitter lies the truth, that the only thing protecting the performers from the social reformers is Stevie, the Frenchman, kingpin of the mob's downtown operation, whose hand moves from the till to the pockets of the police. It is a thin line of protection, and when a young gay man is murdered in the club, only Blackie cares enough to find out why. Of course, that may be because he happens to be the brother of the woman she adores. Richly detailed and heartfelt, Under the Mink paints a boldly entertaining picture of the lesbian and gay subculture of New York, complete with gangsters, crooked cops, and notorious madams, while paying tribute to the code of honor among the fringe dwellers of the pre-Stonewall era.