Authored by Cynthia S Gillard
When Vaudeville Came to Joplin is the first in a series of historical fiction novels based upon a 100 year old scrapbook that chronicles the lives of Vaudeville performers during the turn of the 20th century.
Young Adella Marie Lawton has a profound love of the piano, which she plays fervently in church, and secretly yearns to forge a career around her musical talent. When a touring Vaudeville troupe comes to Joplin, Adella's confusion about her life path mounts all the more . The leading man in the troupe is Clifford Hastings, a dashing British man several years older, who Adella first meets under remarkable circumstances. Their fates intertwine further when she signs on as a pianist for the troupe's Joplin shows. Based upon the lives of Vaudeville actor, Clifford Hastings and musician, Adella Marie Lawton, it's a must read for history lovers as well as anyone who champions a transcendant love story splendidly spun.