The Trade Off - by Samantha Greene Woodruff (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A brilliant and ambitious young woman strives to find her place amid the promise and tumult of 1920s Wall Street in a captivating historical novel by the author of The Lobotomist's Wife.

Bea Abramovitz has a gift for math and numbers. With her father, she studies the burgeoning Wall Street market's stocks and patterns in the financial pages. After college she's determined to parlay her talent for the prediction game into personal and professional success. But in the 1920s, in a Lower East Side tenement, opportunities for women don't just come knocking. Bea will have to create them.

It's easier for her golden-boy twin brother, Jake, who longs to reclaim all their parents lost after fleeing the pogroms in Russia to come to America. Well intentioned but undisciplined, Jake has a charm that can carry him only so far on Wall Street. So Bea devises a plan. They'll be a secret team, and she'll be the brains behind the broker. As Jake's reputation, his heedless ego, and the family fortune soar, Bea foresees catastrophe: an impending crash that could destroy everything if she doesn't finally take control.

Inspired by the true story of a pioneering investment legend, The Trade Off is a powerful novel about identity, sacrifice, family loyalties, and the complex morality of money.

Review Quotes

She Reads Best Historical Novel Nominee

Zibby Awards for Best Book for the History Lover Finalist

"A truly memorable novel raised to an impressive level of literary excellence, this edition of The Trade Off by author Samantha Greene Woodruff deftly incorporates the elements of identity, sacrifice, family loyalties, and the complex morality of money." ―Midwest Book Review

"This richly nuanced story, its fast pace, and Bea's fiery character make The Trade Off an exciting read." ―Historical Novels Review

"The Trade Off paints a portrait of women finding their way in a man's world...It's notable how a book about extreme wealth, and the day-to-day struggle of the impoverished in New York City in the late 1920s, could just as easily take place today." --Jewish Book Council

"This book is fantastic from cover to cover...The Trade Off is a truly magnificent and inspiring work." --Manhattan Book Review

"Bea Abramovitz is my kind of heroine: undaunted, full of grit, and savvy, with the temerity to stare down a barrier and then work her hardest until she's found a way to break through it. Told with meticulous insight and the colorful language of the city streets, this is a thoughtful and eerily relevant examination of what it means to be a woman with big and bold yearnings." --Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller

"Readers of Beatriz Williams and Fiona Davis will devour this original and inspiring story of female empowerment, vividly set against the looming shadow of the Great Depression." --Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Sapphire

"A profound look at sibling and family loyalties, capitalism, anti-Semitism, and sexism. My adrenaline ramped up just like it does before the closing bell. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough despite not wanting Woodruff's story to end." --Renée Rosen, USA Today bestselling author of Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl

"The Trade Off possesses all the literary goodies that historical-fiction lovers will devour: rags to riches, love, loss, redemption, and my personal fave--girl power, during a time when women had none. Readers will fall deeply in love with the fiery, brilliant Bea, a young immigrant who believes in her own abilities against all odds. Woodruff takes us on a journey rich with history, female empowerment, and page-turning prose. A powerhouse of a novel, The Trade Off is blue chip all the way." --Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author of Woman On Fire

"With a cast of characters so realistic that I swear some of them used to come to Rosh Hashanah dinner at my grandmother's house, Samantha Greene Woodruff has perfectly captured the Jewish immigrant experience of the early twentieth century in The Trade Off. Utterly satisfying and immensely enjoyable, with a nail-biting race to the conclusion, The Trade Off proves that Woodruff is an absolute powerhouse of historical fiction." --Sara Goodman Confino, bestselling author of Don't Forget to Write

"Bea is the kind of well-drawn female character that you will root for from the very start, and the novel is an absolutely captivating read about one woman's trailblazing pursuit of the American dream for herself and her family." --Jane Healey, bestselling author of Goodnight from Paris

"An unputdownable tale of one woman's inspiring rise from the tenements of old New York to the gilded floors of Wall Street, The Trade Off is a sweeping, evocative novel that kept me reading into the night. Lush with historical detail and brimming with insight, Woodruff's fast-moving novel presents the country's financial collapse through one woman's eyes, demonstrating just how hard she'll work to propel herself and her family to riches, even if it means sacrificing her own dreams. Don't miss this historical gem from an unforgettable writer." --Brooke Lea Foster, bestselling author of All the Summers in Between

"Samantha Greene Woodruff has created a nuanced and captivating heroine who brims with courage, loyalty, and grit. Full of 1920s razzle-dazzle, engaging prose, beautifully complex relationships, and a high-stakes, suspenseful crescendo, this is a story that will draw you in from the first page and not let go until its stunning conclusion. A breathtaking look at one of the most dramatic moments in American history, The Trade Off is not to be missed!" --Jacqueline Friedland, USA Today bestselling author of He Gets That from Me