A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys.jpg
A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys.jpg

A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys

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Hardcover:

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A glittering, gothic page-turner about power, control, and the price women pay when they demand to be seen, rich with Gatsby vibes and twisty family drama, from the beloved author of Salt to the Sea

“Enthralling . . . While history is often molded by those in power, there are always those who can wrest control and write a new story of their own.”—Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies

Detroit, 1927. A city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets.

Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit automotive dynasty — rich in money, poor in charm, and entirely overlooked by a controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. When she secretly wins admission to an elite, mysterious arts program backed by a wealthy benefactor, it looks like her chance to finally step out of her family's shadow.

The building is grand and the talent extraordinary — but something is deeply wrong. Doors lock at strange hours. Rumors spread about women who've gone missing. And the benefactor behind it all is as magnetic as he is unsettling.

As Marjorie is pulled deeper into his world, she has to uncover the truth before she loses herself completely. Set in the fading splendor of Prohibition-era Detroit and inspired by real, long-buried historical events, A Fortune of Sand is a gripping, atmospheric mystery from a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A glittering, gothic page-turner about power, control, and the price women pay when they demand to be seen, rich with Gatsby vibes and twisty family drama, from the beloved author of Salt to the Sea

“Enthralling . . . While history is often molded by those in power, there are always those who can wrest control and write a new story of their own.”—Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies

Detroit, 1927. A city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets.

Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit automotive dynasty — rich in money, poor in charm, and entirely overlooked by a controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. When she secretly wins admission to an elite, mysterious arts program backed by a wealthy benefactor, it looks like her chance to finally step out of her family's shadow.

The building is grand and the talent extraordinary — but something is deeply wrong. Doors lock at strange hours. Rumors spread about women who've gone missing. And the benefactor behind it all is as magnetic as he is unsettling.

As Marjorie is pulled deeper into his world, she has to uncover the truth before she loses herself completely. Set in the fading splendor of Prohibition-era Detroit and inspired by real, long-buried historical events, A Fortune of Sand is a gripping, atmospheric mystery from a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

  • Publisher: Ballantine Books

    Title: A Fortune of Sand

    Author: Ruta Sepetys

    On Sale Date: May 26, 2026

    ISBN 13: 9798217093243

    Format: Hardcover

    Retail Price: $30.00

    BISAC: Historical Fiction / Women's Fiction / Mystery & Thriller

    Page Count: 320

    Dimensions: 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 in

  • Ruta Sepetys is an internationally acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author published in sixty countries and forty languages. Her novels have won or been shortlisted for more than forty book prizes; she has received the Carnegie Medal and has presented before NATO and the European Parliament. She is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

  • Readers are calling it atmospheric, unsettling, and meticulously researched:

    • "A strange and fascinating look at an eccentric, dysfunctional wealthy family in 1920s Detroit automotive circles." —Kirkus Reviews

    • "A serious page-turner...take The Great Gatsby and mix it with Mexican Gothic." —PBS Books

    • "Enthralling...there are always those who can wrest control and write a new story of their own." —Marie Benedict

    • "Sepetys offers a new perspective on American capitalism by examining an era and a region seldom covered in historical fiction." —Kirkus Reviews

This book is for you if

  • You love a Jazz Age setting with rot beneath the glamour

  • You’re drawn to a sharp, resourceful woman fighting to be seen by a family that overlooks her

  • You want a mystery built on real, long-buried history, not just invented intrigue

  • You enjoy a slow-build sense of dread inside a glittering, high-society setting

  • You’ve read Sepetys before and trust her research, or you’re looking for the right place to start

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