We don't recall ever seeing a book quite like this one. Author and archivist Caroline Preston took real vintage postcards, ephemera, photos, added typewritten captions and comments, to create a novel that reads as a fantastic scrapbook. Set in the 1920's, we join Frankie as she travels from New England to Greenwich Village to Paris, meeting notables of the time, and having experiences many of us dream of. The book has garnered praise from many well-kinown authors and leading publications, all equally entranced with its unique style and endearing story.

Caroline has inscribed and signed copies of her book just for you, our Things Deco customers. We know you'll enjoy it. HC, 236 pages, 6" X 9," completely illustrated.

"How My Love for Art Deco Inspired a Scrapbook Novel"

"I first fell in love with 1920's Paris and Art Deco through my grandmother's scrapbooks. She was a lawyer's wife living in Lake Forest, Illinois, but believed that Paris was the most glamorous place on earth. She often stayed with her best friend from childhood, Sylvia Beach, who opened the famous Left Bank bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, and was the first publisher of James Joyce's Ulysses.

When I was casting about for the idea for my fourth novel, I had a sudden inspiration—why not create a novel that was a 1920's scrapbook. A real scrapbook made up of real stuff cut up with scissors and pasted together with glue. In all, I collected over 600 pieces of vintage Art Deco ephemera from antique stores and on eBay. Some of my favorite finds were Cunard Line luggage tickets, Vogue magazine covers, Patou and Chanel fashion spreads, a Bakelite cigarette holder, a beaded flapper purse, and advertisements for Art Deco furniture.

But probably my greatest Art Deco find was an original ticket for the famous "Arts Decoratifs Modernes" Exposition held in Paris in 1925. The exposition , which featured modern architecture, decorative arts, and graphic design, was so wildly popular that it gave a name to an entire movement that has endured to this day --"Art Deco." You can find the actual ticket on page 180 of The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt."

Caroline Preston