The Gossip Columnist's Daughter

De: Peter Orner

Narrado por: Robert Fass

The cold case of a young Hollywood starlet’s death sets a contemporary writer on an epic and comic quest to uncover the truth, and its connection to his own family—a new novel by “a major talent” (New York Times) and “one of the most distinctive voices of his generation” (Granta).

Jed Rosenthal hasn’t published a book in fourteen years, the mother of his child left him in a “trial separation” that has stretched on indefinitely, and he struggles to navigate the daily sorrows of their co-parenting arrangement. But the implosion of Jed’s family is simply a footnote in the larger history of the Rosenthal family’s decline.

Just days after the JFK assassination, Karyn “Cookie” Kupcinet was found dead in her Hollywood apartment. The press reported that the 22-year-old was strangled, yet unanswered questions linger to this day. Cookie’s parents—Chicago royalty, Irv and Essee Kupcinet—had been close friends with Jed's grandparents, but in the aftermath of her death, their friendship abruptly and inexplicably ended. Decades later, Jed pores over family stories, newspaper archives, old photos, and crime scene notes, believing that if he can divine the truth of Cookie's death—whether it was suicide, murder, or part of a larger conspiracy—it might shed light on a mystery closer to home.

Spanning seventy plus years, and weaving together family drama and a true-life unsolved case, The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter is a singular, wryly comic, and deeply human exploration into friendship and the bonds that sustain us.

©2025 Peter Orner (P)2025 Little, Brown & Company

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter is a monumental tapestry stitched from history’s scraps: neighborhood rumors, family legends, and unsolved mysteries. It’s a novel about the secrets we keep, the answers we seek, the unfinished business of the pasts we inherit. Peter Orner has already cemented his reputation as one of the great chroniclers of life in Chicago. With The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter he has become one of the great chroniclers of life full stop."—Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Presents and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

“A writer’s investigation into the mysterious death of a Hollywood starlet is a springboard for Peter Orner’s brilliant and powerfully moving portrait of two Chicago families whose braided lives tell an indelible story of politics, social history, and most of all love—bruising, inexplicable, and enduring love. The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter is exquisitely conceived, vast in its reach, and tender in its mercies. Orner is, quite simply, one of the finest writers of our time.”—Marisa Silver, New York Times bestselling author of Mary Coin

“The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter is a fascinating fictional account of a real-life tragedy that captures a Chicago that has largely disappeared. A must-read for anyone interested in Chicago, the underworld, show business, and the important role of gossip columnists during the period between World War Two and the 1960s. Peter Orner weaves an absorbing tale of friendships gone wrong, gangsters, murder, and the struggles of a writer trying to understand both his and his family’s past.”—Dominic A. Pacyga, author of Chicago: A Biography

A long family story.

A book not really about the gossip columnist. It’s about 3-generations of a family who never understood why a key relationship broke up.

Mishmash of realty and fiction

I read the Chicago Tribune review before purchasing. This was so much less interesting than expected. Disjointed and rather boring.