Ruta Sepetys is an American author born on November 19, 1967 in Detroit, Michigan. Although Sepetys currently makes her living as a writer, she did not even pursue a humanities field in university. She received a degree in International Finance from Hillsdale College, but decided to write full-time when she published her first novel, Between Shades of Grey, in 2011.
In 2013, Sepetys published her second book entitled Out of the Easy, which follows the story of Josie Moraine, a seventeen-year-old girl living in 1950s New Orleans. Josie is known in her town as the daughter of a prostitute. She’s desperate to leave for college and shed this reputation. However, a local murder makes Josie’s plans much more complicated as she gets tangled into the intricacies of the investigation.
Upon its publication, Out of the Easy received positive reviews, but many were concerned of the book’s one-dimensional portrayal of certain characters and situations. For example, Darcey Steinke of The New York Times worries that Sepetys “softens the sadness and complexity of prostitution.” Nevertheless, Ruta Sepetys has written a work that manages to shed a light on the brutal reality of life for young women in the 50s.
