Out of the Easy

Out of the Easy, written by Ruta Sepetys and published in 2013, is a young adult historical fiction novel. Sepetys is an award-winning Lithuanian American writer of young adult historical fiction. Her honors include the Carnegie Medal, awarded to one work of children’s or young adult literature per year. Her novels are international best sellers and are widely translated. Out of the Easy is about Josie, a teenage girl living in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1950. The daughter of a prostitute, Josie strives to overcome her background and leave New Orleans. When she gets tangled up in a rich tourist’s murder, however, she does not know if this dream will ever come true.

This study guide uses the 2013 edition published by Speak.

Plot Summary

Josie Moraine, the novel’s first-person narrator, was seven years old when she moved with her mother to New Orleans from Detroit. Her mom, a prostitute, returns to New Orleans to work for Willie, a brothel madam. Now 17, Josie deals daily with stares and name-calling from those in her neighborhood because of her mom’s work. She wants to leave New Orleans to start her life over. She lives above Marlowe Bookshop, where she also works at Willie’s house as a housekeeper. Josie grows worried upon learning that Cincinnati, a criminal and her mom’s off-and-on lover, is returning to New Orleans. Josie burned him with hot coffee for putting her mom in the hospital the last time he was in town, and he threatened to take revenge on her.

While working at the bookshop, Josie assists a handsome and rich tourist named Forrest Hearne. Josie is flattered that he thinks she is a college student, and they bond over their shared love of David Copperfield; Mr. Hearne states that he had a childhood like Copperfield and Josie. Josie keeps the check he writes for the books and adds him to a list she keeps of possible fathers, since she does not know her own. Josie is ashamed of her mother and wants to believe that her father is a respectable man like Hearne. The next day, she learns from Willie that Hearne is dead. He died at a nightclub, but no one knows what happened, and Josie refuses to believe it was due to natural causes. The following day at the bookshop, Josie meets Charlotte, a friendly student at Smith College. They have an instant connection and Josie decides she wants to go to Smith, which is in Massachusetts.

Cincinnati finds Josie in the bookshop after Charlotte leaves. He taunts her and grabs her, but Cokie, Willie’s driver and a father figure to Josie, enters the shop and helps her fend him off. Josie meets her mother for lunch and learns she is moving to Hollywood with Cincinnati. She goes to a party that Charlotte invited her to at her aunt and uncle’s house with Patrick, her best friend and the son of Marlowe’s owner. Josie feels out of place at the party, which is in Uptown and very different from the chaos and filth of the Quarter. Charlotte’s aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Lockwell, are judgmental and can tell that she does not belong. Charlotte promises to send Josie information about Smith.

While cleaning her mom’s room, Josie finds Hearne’s gold watch hidden in a sock. She cuts out a part of an old book and hides it there. Willie decides that Josie should go to Shady Grove, her country home, for several days. Returning to Willie’s house to leave for the country, Josie runs into Mr. Lockwell, who was visiting the brothel. He acts rudely toward her so she tells him he needs to write her a recommendation to Smith or else she will tell his wife. At Shady Grove, Josie and Willie discuss how her mom is responsible for a robbery at Patrick’s house that left his dad, Charlie, in a declining mental state a severe beating. When she gets home, she helps Patrick with Charlie, who is not doing well. She also visits Mr. Lockwell’s office and convinces him that if he writes her a recommendation, he will not have to deal with her anymore.

On her way out of Mr. Lockwell’s office, Josie is asked to come to the police station. There, she is questioned about Hearne’s visit to the bookshop and whether she knows about his missing watch. She gives simple answers about his visit but reveals nothing about the watch. She goes out late at night to throw the watch in the river, but runs into Jesse, a handsome former classmate, who she flirts and has a soda with. When she tries to throw away the watch, she cannot bring herself to because Hearne gave her hope for the future.

Josie receives application information about Smith from Charlotte and obsesses over the details, including not being able to afford it. She meets Miss Paulsen, a local professor and alumna of Smith who does not have much faith in Josie’s acceptance. She celebrates her 18th birthday, and receives a gold watch from Willie, a map and thermos from Cokie, and flowers from Jesse. She visits Lockwell to get a recommendation; he gives her blank letterhead, and she writes the letter herself. Meanwhile, Hearne’s death is deemed a murder due to drugging. Willie tells her not to talk to the police. Josie spends more time with Jesse but is unsure of her feelings. When Patrick kisses her, though, she decides she wants to be with him.

Josie is shocked to discover that the police are bringing her mom back to New Orleans because they believe she killed Hearne. Willie sends her back to Shady Grove for her own protection. She is fearful while she is there but enjoys a surprise visit from Jesse. Cokie shows up and tells her Charlie died, which devastates both her and Patrick. After the funeral, Cokie gambles and wins thousands of dollars which he gifts to Josie for school expenses. Josie tries to advance her relationship with Patrick, but he rejects her because there is someone else. Her mom and Cincinnati go back to Hollywood, and Patrick goes to the West Indies to be with his mom. Josie is enraged when she discovers that her mom stole her gold watch from Willie and all her money from Cokie. Before Patrick leaves, she discovers that he is in love with his friend James.

Josie is threatened and told she owes $5,000 to Marcello, the local mob boss. He secured her mother’s an alibi for Hearne’s murder, but she did not pay him, so now Josie has inherited the debt. Desperate, she calls Lockwell, who previously offered her a job. He offers her money if she comes to his private apartment wearing heels and a new dress. She finally receives her letter from Smith and learns she was rejected. She is frustrated that she has been invited, instead, to clean a professor’s house in exchange for a small salary and housing.

Josie goes to Lockwell’s apartment in her new outfit but rebuffs his sexual advances. She pulls her gun on Lockwell when he becomes aggressive, then flees. While at Willie’s the next day, Willie confronts Josie about everything that she has been keeping from her about the debt and Lockwell. She gives Josie the money, and Josie successfully pays off Marcello. The next time she visits Willie, she tells her something Willie did not know: her mother stole her watch and money. Willie is struck by intense anger, and collapses from a heart attack and dies. In her will, Willie leaves much of her wealth to Josie, including her car and Shady Grove. Ultimately, Josie decides to move to Massachusetts after all. She will work for the professor and try again to get into Smith. She and Jesse, who is now her boyfriend, mail Hearne’s watch to his widow and set off on their road trip.