7 h 10 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 10 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when Kentucky manners meet Broadway ambition—and a writer must find a voice that belongs to neither world alone?
In Blue-Grass and Broadway, Maria Thompson Daviess brings a Kentucky playwright into the world of New York theater. Home means family, familiar manners and a gentle pace. Broadway means deadlines, rivalries and bright lights. Between them lies the challenge of writing something strangers will want to see.
Ambition shares the stage with romance in this warm story of work, affection and finding your voice. The writer's Kentucky way of speaking and seeing meets New York's polished habits. The question is not simply how to write for Broadway, but how to bring a distinct voice into an unfamiliar world.
What you’ll discover
- Two worlds in contrast Move between Kentucky's family ties and the bright, demanding world of New York theater.
- The pull of ambition Follow a playwright's hope of turning an idea into something strangers want to see.
- Romance beside the work Discover a story where affection matters alongside the wish to succeed on the stage.
- A voice worth finding Explore the tension between a Kentucky outlook and the polished habits of New York.
- Southern warmth and humor Enjoy Daviess's affectionate storytelling, with its gentle humor and warm view of everyday people.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like backstage comedy, quick talk, and a romance between a worldly producer and a gray-eyed country playwright. Readers who love old Broadway will feel at home.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two worlds meet through a play
- Vandeford buys a weapon against Violet
- Patricia writes to save her home
- Violet turns her attention toward Dennis
- Kindness brings Patricia to Vandeford
- Love overturns the producer's plan
- Broadway dazzles and wounds Patricia
- Rehearsal changes what Patricia owns
- Shared work raises questions of ownership
Who’s who
- Patricia AdairA young Kentucky playwright who writes a play to save her family home and goes to New York to see it staged.
- Godfrey VandefordA sharp Broadway producer who buys her play to punish his star and finds himself caring for its author.
- Violet HawtryA glamorous star risen from the gutter who wants a bigger show, a bigger theater, and a rich husband.
- Dennis FarradayVandeford's big-hearted, wealthy friend, who invests in the play and promises Patricia's brother to watch over her.
- Mildred LindseyA hungry, gifted actress from the West who is hired for a supporting part and becomes Patricia's close friend.
- William RooneyThe blunt, brilliant stage director who believes the staging and the situation make the play.
- Adolph MeyersVandeford's loyal clerk, called Pops, who reads every manuscript and quietly believes in Patricia's play.
- Gerald HeightA handsome leading man and charmer who joins the cast and takes a lively interest in the author.
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Blue-Grass and Broadway
by Maria Thompson Daviess · 1919
Godfrey Vandeford buys a Kentucky girl's play to punish his star, then meets the author in person.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
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In short
What happens when a producer buys a play only to wreck it, and the author turns up in person? Blue-Grass and Broadway is a comic novel by Maria Thompson Daviess, a Kentucky writer who knew the old South and wrote of it with warmth.
Blue-Grass and Broadway at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 5 min3 h 15 min fast, 4 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 57,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1919by Maria Thompson Daviess
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A purple letter lands beside a purple parcel
The story opens in the New York office of Godfrey Vandeford, a producer whose last show lost twenty thousand dollars. Bills pile up on his desk. Among them lies a violet-tinted letter from his star, Violet Hawtry.
Violet says he is too weak to produce her next big show, and she wants him to sell it to a rival named Weiner. Then an express parcel arrives wrapped in exactly the same purple. Inside is a play by a Miss Patricia Adair of Adairville, Kentucky. Vandeford takes the match as a sign.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1919
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Daviess, Maria Thompson. Blue-Grass and Broadway. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/blue-grass-and-broadway.
Daviess, M. T. (2026). Blue-grass and Broadway. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/blue-grass-and-broadway (Original work published 1919)
Daviess, Maria Thompson. Blue-Grass and Broadway. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/blue-grass-and-broadway.
@book{daviess2026bluegrass,
author = {Daviess, Maria Thompson},
title = {Blue-Grass and Broadway},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/blue-grass-and-broadway},
note = {First published 1919}
}
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What is Blue-Grass and Broadway about?
It follows Patricia Adair, a Kentucky girl who writes a play to save her family home and goes to New York, where producer Godfrey Vandeford, a rough director, and a scheming star reshape her work.
Who is Violet Hawtry in the book?
Violet Hawtry is Vandeford's star, a street-born actress who has risen to fame. She wants a bigger show and a rich husband, and her plans for both shape much of the plot.
What is The Purple Slipper?
It is the new title Vandeford gives Patricia's play, The Renunciation of Rosalind. The name comes from the purple wrappings on the manuscript and from his plan to spank his star with it.
The author
Maria Thompson Daviess
1872–1924 · American novelist
Maria Thompson Daviess (1872–1924) was an American novelist. She was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and lived for many years in Nashville, Tennessee. She wrote novels in the early twentieth century, including The Melting of Molly, published in 1912, and Blue-Grass and Broadway. She died in New York City.
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