Thelma Miles, née Orlova
BORN: 1926, Chicago, IL
GREW UP: Chicago/Keokuk, IA
HER STORY: Justice-seeking and impulsive, Thelma also has a tendency to stick her foot in her mouth. And stain her dress along the way. She may be from the "wrong side of the tracks," but she's determined to leave all that behind her as she sets forth for sunny Florida, determined to change her life.
TEAM ROLE: Emcee
SIGN: She doesn’t know but the girls tell us she’s a Libra
PET PEEVES: Bad men
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Kathleen Young, née DeVane
BORN: 1908, Richmond, Virginia
GREW UP: Richmond
HER STORY: This former debutant turned merchant class knows just how to manipulate the society types she's still eager to walk among. But she would have given up anything for her husband, and now he's sick. The Florida Girls tour is her last ditch effort to save him and the store the own, Sun City Emporium. Thelma is more than a little awed by her.
TEAM ROLE: Chaperone
SIGN: She calls it “poppycock” but she’s an Aries
PET PEEVES: Smoking, slovenliness, nails that are bitten to the quick… really, the list goes on
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ARE YOU IN ON THIS BOOK?
Vivian Miles, née Orlova
BORN: 1909, Pittsburgh, PA
GREW UP: Wheeling, WV
HER STORY: She never regretted becoming Sal Giancarlo’s woman, because he gave her a daughter. She didn’t mind leaving him for the same reason.
TEAM ROLE: Keeping Thelma on track
SIGN: Libra
PET PEEVES: Her own addiction
Vivian Miles, née Orlova
Margaret “Peggy” Holmes
BORN: 1921, St. Petersburg, FL
GREW UP: St. Petersburg, FL
HER STORY: Peggy calls it like she sees it. A waitress at Sun City, she has her sights set on joining the Florida Girls. Lucky for her, she's got a great set of lungs. She joined the group looking for adventure (the cash doesn’t hurt). Kathleen brought her on thinking she’d be malleable. As a fellow working class girl, Thelma feels most at ease around her.
TEAM ROLE: Mezzo soprano
SIGN: Taurus
PET PEEVES: She’ll get back to us
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Doris Juergen
BORN: 1925, Paris, France
GREW UP: Paris/St. Petersburg
HER STORY: She and her mother left Paris when Doris was around five, returning to St. Petersburg when her grandmother died. From an "old money" family, Doris is a shoe-in for the team. Thelma's shocked by her genuine good nature and high spirits (she expected a rich girl to be, well, different), but Doris has her secrets. Beneath her good nature, she chafes at societal expectations for women in general and for herself in particular.
TEAM ROLE: Contralto
SIGN: Cancer
PET PEEVES: Spoil sports
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Helen Fuller
BORN: 1926, St. Petersburg, FL
GREW UP: St. Petersburg, FL
JOINS FLORIDA GIRLS: Team brainiac. Always has a book in her hand. To Thelma's surprise, she knows about more than books. Little does Thelma know—because she mostly reads Scene-o-Rama magazine—Helen gets it all from books. And while she may was the first to talk about chafing at societal roles, really, she joined the team to be near Doris.
TEAM ROLE: Soprano
SIGN: Pisces
PET PEEVES: Dog-eared pages in library books
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Lillian Wright
BORN: 1923, Tampa, FL
GREW UP: St. Petersburg/Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
HER STORY: Her parents brought her home from boarding school because of the war but living at home is the pits. She tries out as a lark and is delighted to make first alternate, even though it’s a position Kathleen made up to gall the competition (which is her father’s store, Wright Pharmacy). Unfortunately, appointing Lillian to anything simultaneously angered their patron (Salvatore Giancarlo).
TEAM ROLE: Alternate
SIGN: Aquarius
PET PEEVES: Spoil sports
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Mildred “Millie” Williams
BORN: 1926, St. Petersburg, FL
GREW UP: St. Petersburg, FL
JOINS FLORIDA GIRLS: A straight-forward goodie two-shoes and also the mayor's daughter. No way she wasn't going to make the team, but she's pretty good on keyboards. She joined the team to hide a secret.
TEAM ROLE: Accompanist
SIGN: Virgo
PET PEEVES: Spitting in public
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Maeve O’Reilly, née Sullivan
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BORN: 1901, Dublin, Ireland
GREW UP: Dublin Ireland
JOINS FLORIDA GIRLS: She's the only one who knows why the waist on Kathleen's wedding dress had to be let out. Or that's what Kathleen Young believes anyway. She’s hired on, but little does Kathleen Young know, Maeve has been keeping an eye on her for years.
TEAM ROLE: Couturier
SIGN: Capricorn
PET PEEVES: Excessively simple clothes which she says, “show a lack of imagination!”
Hattie May Harper
BORN: 1927, St. Petersburg, FL
GREW UP: St. Petersburg, FL
JOINS FLORIDA GIRLS: The youngest team member, she looks a bit like America’s sweetheart but she’s a spoiled daddy's girl. Then again, Thelma has met her mother and thinks it’s probably good someone cares about her. Unfortunately, Mrs. Young acts like her happiness is key to the team's success, but her motivation for joining was simple. She’s not going to find a husband in St. Pete, is she?
TEAM ROLE: Lead dancer
SIGN: Gemini
PET PEEVES: Not getting her way
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