But then, when did this term originate? As it turns out, it was before the beginning of the Roaring Twenties themselves. On May 23, 1919, Indiana newspaper The Elkhart Truth published an editorial titled “The Age of Jazz.” The editorial recounted a Baptist minister’s complaints about jazz being everywhere, making it “in short, (…) a jazz age.” There is a certain controversy about when, exactly, the Jazz Age ended. Many historians mark the stock market crash of 1929 as the event that concluded the period. But others consider that part of the 1930s also belong to this era. I’ll leave that to the historians to debate. What I do know is that the Jazz Age was one of the most transformative eras in world, especially in U.S. history, and as such, it is a setting that’s worth exploring in literature. The following Jazz Age romances will give you that period in all its complexity. Do you want to read more about the Jazz Age? Check out these must-read books set in the 1920s. Gumshoe Anthony Solomon is ready when the opportunity arises to catch The Phoenix, the owner of the most popular speakeasy in Chicago. But you know what they say about best laid plans. He’s not ready for The Phoenix to be a woman, or for his own response to her. But Chicago doesn’t happen. Instead, Taffy runs into Roan Ellis, the man she meant to marry years ago. As the spark between Taffy and Roan reignites, long-buried secrets and wounds come up to the surface. But she wants one last hoorah before settling down. She and her cousin go to a speakeasy, where Harriet cannot take her eyes away from the singer. Soon, Harriet will find that Miss Harriet Smith might be worth defying all expectations. Chase is a bootlegger who has no time for distractions. He needs to find out who killed his little brother, after all. But Chase and Ava discover that staying away from each other might be easier said than done.
