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A young adult novel set during the height of Philadelphia's industrial age
Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent
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Beth Kephart
Flavored by the oddities of historic personalities and facts, Dr. Radway’s Sarsaparilla Resolvent is set in Bush Hill, Philadelphia, 1871—home to the Baldwin Locomotive Works and a massive, gothic prison. Acclaimed writer Beth Kephart captures the rhythms and smells of an extraordinary era as William Quinn and his Ma, Essie, grapple with life among terrible accidents, miraculous escapes, and shams masquerading as truth.
Distributed by Temple University Press for the New City Community Press
Reviews
"Playing masterfully with words, knitting them into new and deliciously expressive forms, Kephart’s story is one of loss and then redemption.... Like the very best of historical fiction, this effort combines a timeless tale with a vividly recreated, fascinating world. An outstanding and ultimately life-affirming tale."
—Kirkus Review
About the Author(s)
Beth Kephart teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the award-winning author of fifteen books, including Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River (Temple) and Dangerous Neighbors.