The Careful Undressing of Love

Set in an alternate New York City, a girls boarding school holds a centuries old curse that was dismissed as legend . . . until it strikes again.

“An examination of love and legacy and family, and the things girls do when we back them into corners and blame them for being there in the first place.”—E. K. Johnston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Thousand Nights

The girls of Devonairre Street are cursed. For decades, the old women of the block have told the young ones that any boy they love will die too soon. But today, the curse is less a terror and more an eccentric accessory—something that makes the girls from the shortest street in Brooklyn special. To fight the curse, they never cut their hair. They always wear keys around their necks. When they pass, regular people stare and whisper “Devonairre” to their friends.

These days, Devonairre Girls don’t truly believe. Their futures are limitless.

Then Jack—their Jack, the boy everyone loved—dies suddenly. And in an instant the curse seems not only real, but like the only thing that matters. All their once-bright futures look hopelessly dark as their city turns against them.