What was your inspiration for this book? Was it a lightbulb moment or a slow build?
I think it was probably both. I had decided for myself a long time ago that if I was going to do a book I’d want it to be a lot bigger than me, about something that mattered. Drag has been a part of my life for almost 30 years, and it’s been a big part of the way I see the world. I started thinking about the concept for Glitter and Concrete after the legendary New York drag queen Flawless Sabrina passed away in November 2017. I didn’t want anyone else’s stories to get lost. I actually wondered first if maybe someone else did collect them somewhere, but it turned out there were larger histories about drag, but none specifically about New York City. I think I said something about it for the first time to my friend Andrew in December 2017 when we went to see the Christmas lights in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. I played with the idea for a few more months, then told a colleague, Fran Tirado about it, and when they were so encouraging I began working on it that night. It was March 2018. And here we are now!
What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing this book?
Initially it was the pandemic–I got my book deal at the beginning of March 2020, and I was hoping to have access to archives at the start of the writing process, which of course didn’t pan out at the time. But what was interesting about the pandemic is that it meant a lot of people who normally may have been too busy to talk to me were able to sit down and chat, which was really generous of them. The other challenge was knowing that I couldn’t include everything, even if I wanted to. There came a time when I had to be really selective, which my history mentor Scott Sandage had prepared me for, but by that point you’re so invested in people’s stories it becomes even more difficult.
How do you approach research for your books?
I try to learn as much as I possibly can about a subject before committing anything to paper. When I first got my book deal, I held myself to what I called a “reading period,” similar to what PhD students do, where I read, read, read and highlighted, highlighted, highlighted. I did the same thing with works on film. Then for each subject I write about, I do a deep dive and learn as much as I can that’s new before it gets repetitive. After that, I start to write.
Can you tell us about your writing process? Do you follow a specific routine or schedule?
My goal when I was writing the book was 1000 words a day once I started writing, mostly because I know that’s what I can easily do when I’m on freelancing deadlines. Some days I wrote 2000 words and I was on a roll, and some days it was 300 words and it was like pulling teeth. Some days I barely did that. But, like Scarlett O’Hara says, tomorrow is another day. I had to learn to trust myself to know I would make it work. It also became pretty essential to my mental health and writing productivity to go for a long walk before I started working, just so I wasn’t getting out of bed, getting ready, and promptly sitting down again. Walking became a regular part of working for me with the book and I still do it.
What themes do you tend to explore in your writing?
I have for the longest time been interested in people who are unapologetically themselves, people who live fiercely in the face of a world that tells them they shouldn’t or shouldn’t exist. In my writing, this has presented itself as everything from queer history to drag to skateboarding to burlesque to gay motorcycle clubs to women in photography, and much more. People who rewrite the ideas of what identity “should” be and create their own. These are the kinds of stories that, more often than not, also don’t get told. My hope is that by sharing the knowledge we can increase understanding. I’m also very interested in glamour and the different ways that presents itself in the world, be it in history, literature, film, travel, food, or what have you. I think the way we interact with ideas of what glamour is and how we develop them is very interesting. I also think drag is the natural intersection of those themes.
Do you have any writing habits or quirks that are unique to you?
I learned a while ago that I can’t write if my feet are cold. I also prefer to have open-ended time to be able to write, or as much as humanly possible, so I tend not to make interviews, appointments, or other meetings on days when I have deadlines. I also prefer silence, so there’s no music when I write, either. I want to be in my cave, left alone, and become this gif of the cat typing.
Can you describe your favorite writing spot or environment?
It’s at home, where I do all of my writing–I’m a full-time freelancer, so my home is my office. On days when I just have to send emails I might go to a coffee shop or the Performing Arts library at Lincoln Center. But when I’m on a deadline or when working on my book, I sit at my dining room table in my office chair in silence so I can become the aforementioned cat gif.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
My hope is that the book will find people who need it and let them know they have roots, that their stories matter. In this climate where drag faces such discrimination, my hope is also that it shows people these stories can’t be suppressed, that they’re a part of a longstanding history that can’t be unwritten or painted over with hatred and ignorance. Drag has existed longer than any of us have been alive, and needs to be respected for the artform it is, of self-expression, glamour, rebellion, and resilience.
An intimate, evocative history of drag in New York City exploring its dynamic role, from the Jazz Age to Drag Race,in queer liberation and urban life
From the lush feather boas that adorned early female impersonators to the sequined lip syncs of barroom queens to the drag kings that have us laughing in stitches, drag has played a vital role in the creative life of New York City. But the evolution of drag in the city—as an art form, a community and a mode of liberation—has never before been fully chronicled.
Now, for the first time, journalist and drag historian Elyssa Maxx Goodman unearths the dramatic, provocative untold story of drag in New York City in all its glistening glory. Goodman ducks beneath the velvet ropes of Harlem Renaissance balls, examines drag’s crucial role in the Stonewall Uprising, traces drag’s influence on disco and punk rock as well as its unifying power during the AIDS crisis and 9/11, and culminates in the era of RuPaul’sDrag Race.
Informed by meticulous research and archival work, as well as original interviews with high-profile performers, Glitter and Concrete is a significant contribution to queer history and an essential read for anyone curious about the story that echoes beneath the heels.
Available at:
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]]>Rediscover love, happiness and family in this compelling novel about one woman’s journey to overcome her greatest life obstacles yet.
Sarah Moon tackles life’s issues with a sharp wit in her syndicated comic strip, Just Breathe. With both Sarah and her cartoon heroine undergoing fertility treatments, her fiction often reflects her reality. However, she hadn’t scripted her husband’s infidelity.
In the wake of her shattered marriage, Sarah flees to the coastal town in California where she grew up. There, she revisits her troubling past: an emotionally distant father, the loss of her mother and an unexpected connection with Will Bonner, the high school heartthrob skewered mercilessly in her comics. But he’s been through some changes himself. And just as her heart is about to reawaken, Sarah makes a most startling discovery: she’s pregnant with her ex’s twins.
The winds of change have led Sarah to this surprising new beginning. All she can do is just close her eyes…and breathe.
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Love Susan Wiggs Books? You’re in luck. She has another one coming out this Fall! Read more about it below:
The ultimate holiday gift from New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs: a delightful novel about a Christmas transport of rescue puppies that’s guaranteed to warm readers’ hearts.
Brenda Malloy wants nothing to do with Christmas ever again. Last year, Brenda and her husband rushed their beloved dog Tim to the emergency vet on Christmas eve. The good news: Tim survived after the vet cleared the obstruction–a pair of women’s lace undies. The bad news: the undies were not Brenda’s.
A year after the breakup, Brenda has put her life back together. She’s trained for a marathon, is writing a children’s novel, and she’s found purpose and healing as a volunteer with a dog rescue organization in Houston, Texas. The rescue partners with a program in Avalon, New York–a small, snowy town deep in the Catskills. Now Brenda is arranging the transport of rescued dogs from Houston to Avalon—just in time for a merry Christmas with their forever families. Brenda’s friends worry about her driving a van two thousand miles with twelve dogs in crates, but she shrugs off their concern. How hard can it be? She knows the way, and she’s just looking to escape the Christmas overload for a while.
But a blinding snowstorm, an escaped mutt, and a life-saving encounter with Adam Bellamy—a single dad and paramedic—means Brenda has to stay in Avalon longer than she planned. As she drops off each precious pup at their new homes, some of the comfort and joy of the season begins to creep up on Brenda despite her determination to avoid the holidays. Perhaps you can bring Christmas into your heart after all…if you have the right furry friends to guide the way.
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]]>Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom to a teenage daughter and working as a full time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, having jumped from a bridge and plunging over twenty feet to the train tracks below.
But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin pushed and if so, by whom and why?
Meghan has always tried to stay emotionally detached from her patients, but this time, she mistakenly lets herself get too close until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late, does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims.
Look for these other pulse-pounding thrillers by New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica:
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Growing older is a blessing. But the slow decline and the loss of functionality associated with aging has led us to treat the process like a disease. These negative effects of aging, however, are not inevitable. Rather, they’re largely the result of environmental and lifestyle factors that, when properly addressed, can be reversed through a process called Autojuvenation.
Dr. Youn, one of America’s most trusted surgeons, offers a groundbreaking new approach to turning back the clock naturally. In this step-by-step guide, he shows us how, through simple changes in diet, activity and skin care, we can look younger than ever before. Readers will learn:
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Iris narrowly escaped her pretty, popular twin sister’s fate as a teen: kidnapped, trafficked and long gone before the cops agreed to investigate. With no evidence to go on but a few scattered memories, the case quickly goes cold.
Now an adult, Iris wants one thing—proof. And if the police still won’t help, she’ll just have to find it her own way; by interning at the isolated Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane, where secrets lurk in the shadows and are kept under lock and key. But Iris soon realizes that something even more sinister is simmering beneath the surface of the Shoal, and that the patients aren’t the only ones being observed…
Looking for more great reads by Tarryn Fisher? Don’t miss:
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The Best Friend. The Confidant. The Senator. The Boyfriend. The Executive.
Five contestants have been chosen to compete for ten million dollars on the game show One Lucky Winner. The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live streamed all over the world. Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated.
When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show—someone is out for blood. And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are…
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Mathematical genius Dr. Meg Brightwood has just completed her life’s work—a proof of a problem so impenetrable it’s nicknamed the Impossible Theorem.
Reclusive and burdened by anxiety, Meg hadn’t been taken seriously before. Now everyone wants to get their hands on what she alone possesses—especially her own mathematician father.
Having grown up a prodigy in a field plagued by sexism and plagiarism, Meg opts for a public presentation so there will be no doubt of her authorship. But a panic attack obliterates her plans. In defeat, Meg returns to the decaying house where she lives alone and locks away the one and only manuscript of her proof.
Then chance sends her the unlikeliest of allies: Isaac Wells—carpenter, high school dropout, in trouble with the law. And the one love of Meg’s life. Fifteen years ago, they never did more than hold hands. Now adults, they reach toward each other through the minefield of the past and find a tenuous space where they can love and be loved for who they are now.
But when Meg goes to retrieve the Impossible Theorem, she finds it missing. Will she fight for the achievement of the century and the love of a lifetime?
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Every night, she cleans. On the fourth floor of an unnamed office in an unnamed city, the night cleaner comes and does what she does best—sorts out the messes of the daytime employees. None of them know her, but she knows everything about them: Sad Intern’s dreams to get promoted, Résumé Woman’s nasty flight-risk behavior, Mr. Buff’s secret smoking habit (not very conducive to his fitness journey).
She’s the office mastermind, the one everyone needs, and no one even knows she exists. And tonight, while scrolling through your emails, she’ll discover the secret you’ve been hiding—the one that will put everyone’s job at risk.
But protecting the employees is her responsibility: whether it’s from rats and window smudges or from the sinister CEO who may be driving the company into ruin. And you’re about to find out that, sometimes, your most powerful enemy is the one you don’t even see.
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Globetrotter Addie Macrae always follows her wanderlust. As a travel consultant, she jet sets around the world—anywhere but Scotland. But when she’s sent on assignment to help a struggling family-run tour company in the Highlands—and save her own job—Addie packs away her emotional baggage and turns on the professional charm.
Rugged as the land he loves, Logan Sutherland’s greatest joy is sharing the beauty of Scotland’s hidden gems…even if it means a wee bit of red ink on the company’s bottom line. The last thing Logan wants is some American “expert” pushing tourist traps and perpetuating myths about the Loch Ness Monster—especially when Addie never leaves her desk to experience the country for herself.
As they wage an office war, Logan discovers Addie’s secret connection to Scotland: a handful of faded Polaroids of her late mother. Hoping for a truce, he creates a private tour to the places in the pictures to help Addie find closure and appreciate the enchantment in less-traveled destinations, never expecting the off-limits attraction sparking between them. But Addie’s contract is almost up, and magic won’t pay the bills. They can’t afford distractions, but how can Addie do her job if she hasn’t explored all Scotland—and Logan—have to offer?
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]]>What was your inspiration for this book? Was it a lightbulb moment or a slow build?
I’ve wanted to read this book since I was about six. Hercules is referenced everywhere in Greek mythology, and I wanted to put that all together in one place, without leaving out the good bits. (Since I was six, that basically meant I wanted all the violence left in, thank you.) The most lightbulby moment for me was reading Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles. That’s what made me realise I wasn’t the only person who wanted to read mythology in novel form.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing this book?
It was… temporally complicated. Because Herc appears in so many stories, most of the times he’s referenced, the source isn’t too worried about how that fits into a timeline. Putting those all together got quite tangled at points. I also started writing Herc in late 2019 and, like a lot of the world, wasn’t in the best place throughout 2020. Trying to edit and focus when it felt like everything was on fire was a huge challenge.
How do you approach research for your books?
I’ve been a big Greek mythology nerd for about as long as I can remember – I think it was inevitable, with my name – so I usually know a lot of the basic framework going in. That said, I do need to continuously double check that what I think I know is right – I’ve gone down some deep rabbit holes in the past because I’ve gotten two names mixed up – and then try to fill in the gaps between those major events. For that, I find it easiest to start with the specific characters who are involved, check them in one of my encyclopedias and then, with that in hand, start researching online.
Can you tell us about your writing process? Do you follow a specific routine or schedule?
I tend to write at either extreme of the day, right after I wake up or right before I go to sleep, but it honestly varies a lot. I work full-time, so it will often depend on what I can fit around that. For the process itself, I write quite fast and then circle through a lot of drafts. For me, that ensures a constant feeling of progress and helps stop me overthinking things that don’t need to be overthunk.
What themes do you tend to explore in your writing?
No matter where I start, I always seem to end up talking about complicated family dynamics, which is a very fancy way of saying I like writing about families bickering.
Do you have any writing habits or quirks that are unique to you?
I’m a bit of a competitive monster, so when I’m stuck on a scene or procrastinating I’ll sometimes set a ten minute timer and then race to see how many words I can get down before it runs out. It makes for… interesting edits.
Can you describe your favorite writing spot or environment?
My parents live a six-hour train ride away from me, and the track follows a really beautiful route around the coast on the way down. If I manage a good seat on a quiet train, that’s probably my favourite place in the world to write.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I hope they have fun with it! Greek mythology has always brought me a lot of joy, so I’d love to share some of that with the world.
A queer revisionist retelling of the story of Hercules, for fans of The Song of Achilles, A Thousand Ships and Ariadne.
This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures… everyone’s favorite hero, right?
Well, it’s not.
This is the story of everyone else:
It’s time to hear their stories.
Told with humour and heart, Herc gives voice to the silenced characters, in this feminist, queer (and sometimes shocking) retelling of classic Hercules myth.
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]]>An intimate, evocative history of drag in New York City exploring its dynamic role, from the Jazz Age to Drag Race,in queer liberation and urban life
From the lush feather boas that adorned early female impersonators to the sequined lip syncs of barroom queens to the drag kings that have us laughing in stitches, drag has played a vital role in the creative life of New York City. But the evolution of drag in the city—as an art form, a community and a mode of liberation—has never before been fully chronicled.
Now, for the first time, journalist and drag historian Elyssa Maxx Goodman unearths the dramatic, provocative untold story of drag in New York City in all its glistening glory. Goodman ducks beneath the velvet ropes of Harlem Renaissance balls, examines drag’s crucial role in the Stonewall Uprising, traces drag’s influence on disco and punk rock as well as its unifying power during the AIDS crisis and 9/11, and culminates in the era of RuPaul’sDrag Race.
Informed by meticulous research and archival work, as well as original interviews with high-profile performers, Glitter and Concrete is a significant contribution to queer history and an essential read for anyone curious about the story that echoes beneath the heels.
Available at:
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One last summer.
For Manuela del Carmen Caceres Galvan, the invitation to show her paintings at the 1889 Exposition Universelle came at the perfect time. Soon to be trapped in a loveless marriage, Manuela has given herself one last summer of freedom—in Paris, with her two best friends.
One scandalous encounter.
Cora Kempf Bristol, Duchess of Sundridge, is known for her ruthlessness in business. It’s not money she chases, but power. When she sees the opportunity to secure her position among her rivals, she does not hesitate. How difficult could it be to convince the mercurial Miss Caceres Galvan to part with a parcel of land she’s sworn never to sell?
One life-changing bargain.
Tempted by Cora’s offer, Manuela proposes a trade: her beloved land for a summer with the duchess in her corner of Paris. A taste of the wild, carefree world that will soon be out of her reach. What follows thrills and terrifies Cora, igniting desires the duchess long thought dead. As they fill their days indulging in a shared passion for the arts and their nights with dark and delicious deeds, the happiness that seemed impossible moves within reach…though claiming it would cause the greatest scandal Paris has seen in decades.
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I wore a dress on the night I first met Ming.
It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with friends at their local university drag night, Tom buys Ming a drink. Confident and witty, a magnetic young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom’s awkward energy, and their connection is instant. Tom finds himself deeply and desperately drawn into Ming’s orbit, and on the cusp of graduation, he’s already mapped out their future together. But shortly after they move to London to start their next chapter, Ming announces her intention to transition.
From London to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Cologne, we follow Tom and Ming as they face tectonic shifts in their relationship and friend circle in the wake of Ming’s transition. Through a spiral of unforeseen crises—some personal, some professional, some life-altering—Tom and Ming are forced to confront the vastly different shapes their lives have taken since graduating, and each must answer the essential question: Is it worth losing a part of yourself to become who you are?
Buoyed by a voice as tender, effervescent and wryly funny as the cast of characters it centers, Bellies is an unforgettable story of youth, intimacy, hunger and heartbreak, at once boldly original yet fiercely familiar, which unabashedly holds a mirror up to our most vulnerable selves and desires.
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Edward Dinnissen leads a charmed life. He’s the Crown Prince of Canada, gets the royal treatment at his exclusive private school, and resides in a ritzy mansion. He thrives off being the perfect prince as he prepares for the Investiture Ceremony on his eighteenth birthday, the final step in his role as heir—and Canada’s future king. But this closeted Crown Prince has just one tiny problem: he’s unsure how to tell his parents, his beloved country, and his adoring fans that he’s gay.
Billy Boone should be happy with the simple life. His family’s ranch is his favorite place in the world, he loves his small town, and his boyfriend is the cutest guy at Little Timber High. So why does it feel like something’s still missing? Maybe it has to do with the fact that this out-and-proud cowboy feels destined for something more . . .
When Edward and Billy meet by chance in New York City, they discover that they are long-lost twins, and their lives are forever changed. Together, will these twin princes—“twinces”—be able to take on high school, coming out, and coronations? Or will this royal reunion quickly become a royal train wreck?
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Darcy Evans is getting married. In a week. To a man who is her childhood dream come true. But a late-night confession from her best friend changes everything and before she even has time to unpack it, she must endure a road trip to the ceremony with her estranged mother, Marja. It was always the two of them against the world…until Marja ghosted Darcy three years ago. No car in the world has enough room for all of their baggage.
The drive from Austin to Chicago is nostalgic, claustrophobic, incredibly messy and exactly what both women need. As they each find themselves at a crossroads in their lives, long-held secrets are revealed—ones that reshape Darcy’s memories of the past and forever alter the future she’d recently been so certain of. She hadn’t known what a reunion with her mother might bring, but sometimes following your heart means taking a path you never planned…and finding a love you never imagined.
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Shake some hands. Kiss some coworkers.
Cutthroat political consultant Thom Morgan is thriving, working on the governor of California’s presidential campaign. If only he didn’t have to deal with Clay Parker, the infuriatingly smug data analyst who gets under Thom’s skin like it’s his job. In the midst of one of their heated and very public arguments, a journalist snaps a photo, but the image makes it look like they’re kissing. As if that weren’t already worst-nightmare territory, the photo goes viral—and in a bid to secure the liberal vote, the governor asks them to lean into it. Hard.
Thom knows all about damage control—he practically invented it. Ever the professional, he’ll grin and bear this challenge as he does all others. But as the loyal staffers push the boundaries of “giving the people what they want,” the animosity between them blooms into something deeper and far more dangerous: desire. Soon their fake relationship is hurtling toward something very real, which could derail the campaign and cost them both their jobs…and their hearts.
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]]>Twenty-five years after the end of the war, Noah Ainsworth is still preoccupied with those perilous, exhilarating years as a British SOE operative in France. A head injury sustained on his final operation has caused frustrating gaps in his memory—in particular about the agent who saved his life during that mission gone wrong, whose real name he never knew, nor whether she even survived the war.
Moved by her father’s frustration, Noah’s daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers that resurrects the stories of Chloe and Fleur, the code names for two otherwise ordinary women whose lives intersect in 1943 when they’re called up by the SOE for deployment in France. Taking enormous risks to support the allied troops with very little information or resources, the women have no idea they’re at the mercy of a double agent among them who’s causing chaos within the French circuits, whose efforts will affect the outcome of their lives…and the war.
But as Charlotte’s search for answers bears fruit, overlooked clues come to light about the identity of the double agent—with unsettling hints pointing close to home—and more shocking events are unearthed from the dangerous, dramatic last days of the war that lead to Chloe and Fleur’s eventual fates.
For more by Kelly Rimmer, look for
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]]>A messy family drama and a steamy little romance unfold under the Mediterranean sun for the perfect summer escape…
Celebrated romance author Catherine Swift has topped the bestseller lists for decades, though her personal story hasn’t been quite so successful. Three failed marriages have left her relationship with her daughters strained, but that’s about to be rectified. Engaged yet again, Catherine is counting on this wedding to be what finally brings them together as a family, and she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Adeline doesn’t know what’s worse—that her mother is getting married a fourth time, or that she’s being guilted into witnessing the train wreck at Catherine’s luxury villa in Corfu. It brings back the pain of her parents’ split, of her mother’s infidelity and the baby that was the result. Not that she blames her half sister, Cassie, but then she’s never made an effort to know her, either.
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Twenty-five years after the end of the war, Noah Ainsworth is still preoccupied with those perilous, exhilarating years as a British SOE operative in France. A head injury sustained on his final operation has caused frustrating gaps in his memory—in particular about the agent who saved his life during that mission gone wrong, whose real name he never knew, nor whether she even survived the war.
Moved by her father’s frustration, Noah’s daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers that resurrects the stories of Chloe and Fleur, the code names for two otherwise ordinary women whose lives intersect in 1943 when they’re called up by the SOE for deployment in France. Taking enormous risks to support the allied troops with very little information or resources, the women have no idea they’re at the mercy of a double agent among them who’s causing chaos within the French circuits, whose efforts will affect the outcome of their lives…and the war.
But as Charlotte’s search for answers bears fruit, overlooked clues come to light about the identity of the double agent—with unsettling hints pointing close to home—and more shocking events are unearthed from the dangerous, dramatic last days of the war that lead to Chloe and Fleur’s eventual fates.
For more by Kelly Rimmer, look for
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From internationally bestselling author Bryn Turnbull comes a breathtaking novel about art theft and forgery in Nazi-occupied Paris, and two brave women who risk their lives rescuing looted masterpieces from Nazi destruction.
Sophie Dix fled Stuttgart with her brother as the Nazi regime gained power in Germany. Now, with her brother gone and her adopted home city of Paris conquered by the Reich, Sophie reluctantly accepts a position restoring damaged art at the Jeu de Paume museum under the supervision of the ERR—a German art commission using the museum as a repository for art they’ve looted from Jewish families.
Fabienne Brandt was a rising star in the Parisian bohemian arts movement until the Nazis put a stop to so-called “degenerate” modern art. Still mourning the loss of her firebrand husband, she’s resolved to muddle her way through the occupation in whatever way she can—until her estranged sister-in-law, Sophie, arrives at her door with a stolen painting in hand.
Soon the two women embark upon a plan to save Paris’s “degenerates,” working beneath the noses of Germany’s top art connoisseurs to replace the paintings in the Jeu de Paume with skillful forgeries—but how long can Sophie and Fabienne sustain their masterful illusion?
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1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.
Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. With shared determination, the women find companionship that perhaps borders on something more. And as they team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…
Written with intoxicating suspense and sultry prose, The London Séance Society is an entrancing tale that blurs the lines between truth and illusion, and reveals the grave risks women will take to avenge the ones they love.
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One last summer.
For Manuela del Carmen Caceres Galvan, the invitation to show her paintings at the 1889 Exposition Universelle came at the perfect time. Soon to be trapped in a loveless marriage, Manuela has given herself one last summer of freedom—in Paris, with her two best friends.
One scandalous encounter.
Cora Kempf Bristol, Duchess of Sundridge, is known for her ruthlessness in business. It’s not money she chases, but power. When she sees the opportunity to secure her position among her rivals, she does not hesitate. How difficult could it be to convince the mercurial Miss Caceres Galvan to part with a parcel of land she’s sworn never to sell?
One life-changing bargain.
Tempted by Cora’s offer, Manuela proposes a trade: her beloved land for a summer with the duchess in her corner of Paris. A taste of the wild, carefree world that will soon be out of her reach. What follows thrills and terrifies Cora, igniting desires the duchess long thought dead. As they fill their days indulging in a shared passion for the arts and their nights with dark and delicious deeds, the happiness that seemed impossible moves within reach…though claiming it would cause the greatest scandal Paris has seen in decades.
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Ginny Splinter, acclaimed radio host and advice expert, prides herself on knowing what’s best for others. So she’s sure her husband, Adrian, will love the special trip to Italy she’s planned for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. But when Ginny presents the gift to Adrian, he surprises her with his own very different plan—a divorce.
Beside herself with heartache, Ginny impulsively invites four heartbroken listeners to join her in Italy instead while live on air. From hiking the hills of Bologna to riding a gondola in Venice to sharing stories around the dining table of the little Italian hotel, Ginny and her newfound company embark on a vacation of healing.
However, when Adrian starts to rethink their relationship, Ginny must decide whether to commit to her marriage or start afresh, alone. And an unexpected stranger may hold the key to a very different future… Sunny, tender and brimming with charm, The Little Italian Hotel explores marriage, identity and reclaiming the present moment—even if it means leaving the past behind.
Look for Phaedra Patrick’s previous charming bestsellers!
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When Harlow Estrada is abruptly fired from her dream job and her boyfriend proves to be a jerk, her world turns upside down. She flees New York City to the one place she can always call home—the enchanted Hacienda Estrada.
The Estrada family farm in Mexico houses an abundance of charmed flowers cultivated by Harlow’s mother, sisters, aunt, and cousins. By harnessing the magic in these flowers, they can heal hearts, erase memories, interpret dreams—but not Harlow. So when her mother and aunt give her a special task involving the family’s magic, she panics. How can she rise to the occasion when she is magicless? But maybe it’s not magic she’s missing, but belief in herself. When she finally embraces her unique gifts and opens her heart to a handsome stranger, she discovers she’s far more powerful than she imagined.
With unforeseen twists, romance, and a heavy sprinkle of magic, The Enchanted Hacienda is a captivating coming-of-age debut exploring identity, unconditional family love, and uncovering the magic within us all.
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]]>One last summer.
For Manuela del Carmen Caceres Galvan, the invitation to show her paintings at the 1889 Exposition Universelle came at the perfect time. Soon to be trapped in a loveless marriage, Manuela has given herself one last summer of freedom—in Paris, with her two best friends.
One scandalous encounter.
Cora Kempf Bristol, Duchess of Sundridge, is known for her ruthlessness in business. It’s not money she chases, but power. When she sees the opportunity to secure her position among her rivals, she does not hesitate. How difficult could it be to convince the mercurial Miss Caceres Galvan to part with a parcel of land she’s sworn never to sell?
One life-changing bargain.
Tempted by Cora’s offer, Manuela proposes a trade: her beloved land for a summer with the duchess in her corner of Paris. A taste of the wild, carefree world that will soon be out of her reach. What follows thrills and terrifies Cora, igniting desires the duchess long thought dead. As they fill their days indulging in a shared passion for the arts and their nights with dark and delicious deeds, the happiness that seemed impossible moves within reach…though claiming it would cause the greatest scandal Paris has seen in decades.
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In this charming YA debut, a girl who’s determined to prove her star chart wrong ropes her longtime best friend into an experimental relationship—not knowing that he has been in love with her for years.
Is it possible to change your fate?
Madhuri Iyer is doomed. Doomed for her upcoming senior year to be a total failure, according to her astrology-obsessed mother, and doomed to a happily ever after with her first boyfriend, according to her family curse.
Determined to prove the existence of her free will, Madhuri devises an experimental relationship with the one boy she knows she’ll never fall for: her childhood best friend, Arjun Mehta. But Arjun’s feelings for her are a variable she didn’t account for.
As Madhuri starts to fall for her experimental boyfriend, she’ll have to decide if charting her own destiny is worth breaking Arjun’s heart—and her own.
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When an international warning siren accidentally goes off, convincing everyone that a meteor shower may just be the end of life as they know it, six couples—friends, exes, crushes and rivals—must take shelter. Inhibitions are abandoned, confessions are made and love blossoms, but what happens when the world doesn’t end?
Filled with humor, heat and hope, this riveting collection of interconnected multicultural stories by acclaimed authors Lane Clarke, Farah Heron, Taj McCoy, Charish Reid, Sarah Smith and Denise Williams beautifully explores the secrets we carry with us—and the joy we discover when we let go and reach for the stars.
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Total opposites. Totally irresistible.
Mickey Chambers is an expert at analyzing modern literature. But when it comes to figuring out her own story, she’s feeling a little lost. At thirty-three, she’s an adjunct instructor with a meager summer class schedule and too many medical bills, courtesy of her chronic illness. Picking up a bartending gig seems perfect. Sure, Mickey’s never done this before, but the gorgeous, grumpy bar owner, Diego Acosta, might be the perfect man to teach the teacher…if he wasn’t so stressed.
Diego is worried he’s running his late wife’s bar into the ground. Add the pressures of returning to college part-time at forty-two, and it’s no wonder he’s making rash decisions. Like hiring the sunny, sexy woman who looks more at home in a library than slinging beers to rowdy barflies, and who turns out to be teaching his online writing course, a complication neither was expecting…
It’s not long before Mickey starts reenergizing The Saloon with cocktails, karaoke and an optimism even Diego can’t ignore. They need to fight their feelings if they want to keep things professional, but all it takes is one sip, one kiss, to shake both their worlds forever…
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When Meredith Collins was a child, the little beach town of Cape Sanctuary lived up to its name. Spending summers there with her grandmother, Meredith finally felt safe and loved.
Now she’s returning in disgrace. Her late ex-husband swindled investors out of millions of dollars and made Meredith a figure of scorn—though she knew nothing about his scheme. But she still has the beach cottage she inherited from her grandmother and half ownership of the local café. It’s a place to work and earn a little money. That’s if her cousin, Tori, will let her through the door. Once, Tori and Meredith were as close as sisters—until Meredith chose her neglectful parents’ expectations over their bond. Now widowed with a teenage daughter, Tori isn’t setting out a welcome mat for the woman who let her down so badly.
While Meredith tries to make a fresh start, she is drawn to a mysterious writer renting the cottage next door. Liam Byrne’s kindness is a balm, though she worries he might not be so friendly if he knew who she was. But Liam has his own secret and a mission that will help Meredith confront her past—and maybe, claim a surprising future…
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The proposition is simple: if ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott, are still single by the time they’re forty, they’ll take the proverbial plunge together…as friends with benefits. Maybe it’s the wine, but in the moment, Claire figures the pact is a safe-enough deal, considering she hasn’t had much luck in love and he’s in no rush to settle down. Like, at all. Besides, there’s no way she could ever really fall for Graham and his thrill-seeking ways. Not after what happened to her father…
Just as things begin to heat up way before the proposed deadline, Graham’s injured in a serious rock climbing accident—and he needs Claire’s help to heal. She’ll do whatever it takes to nurse him back to health…even if it means moving in to Graham’s bed and putting up with his little dog, who hates her. But with this no-strings arrangement taking a complicated turn, keeping “for now” from turning into “forever” isn’t as easy as they’d planned.
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With her thirties rapidly approaching and a mountain of student debt looming over her, Violet Luciano’s dream of finishing design school and working in fashion has cost her everything. So when she lands an internship at an up-and-coming fashion brand in Rome, she brings her A game to Italy. With nothing left to lose, Violet plans to win the competition among the interns for the ultimate prize—a job at a New York label.
But when a coffee run goes wrong and Violet accidentally destroys a stranger’s laptop, all of the apology Americanos in the world won’t help her. Because it turns out that the man from the café is Matteo, her professor’s eternally grumpy son, who thinks she’s a clumsy American…and maybe a stalker. Their animosity (and undeniable chemistry) grows as together they’re forced to face a summer of chic parties, adventures through Rome and sharing a home…with the person they can’t stand the most.
The more time she spends with him, the more distracted she finds herself. With her chance to win the competition slipping out of her grasp, Violet has to decide whether to say ciao to Matteo—or ciao to her dreams.
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As a shy school librarian, Alexis Stone is comfortable keeping out of the spotlight. But when she’s dumped for being too meek—in bed!—she decides she needs to change. And what better way to kick-start her new more adventurous life than with her first one-night stand?
Enter Logan, the gorgeous, foul-mouthed stranger she meets at a hotel bar. Audacious and filterless, Logan is Alexis’s opposite—and boy, do opposites attract! Just as she’s about to fulfill her hookup wish, the hotel catches fire in a freak lightning storm. In their rush to escape, Logan is discovered carrying her into the street, where people are waiting with cameras. Cameras Logan promptly—and shockingly—flees.
Alexis is bewildered until suddenly pictures of her and Logan escaping the fire are all over the internet. Turns out Logan is none other than Logan Arthur, the hotshot candidate challenging the Texas governor’s seat. The salacious scandal is poised to sink his career—and jeopardize Alexis’s job—until a solution is proposed: he and Alexis could pretend to be in a relationship until election day…in two months. What could possibly go wrong?
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Avital Cohen isn’t wearing underpants—woefully, for unsexy reasons. Chronic pelvic pain has forced her to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing.
She needs hired help.
And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems the perfect fit.
Except Ethan isn’t there to work—he’s undercover, at the behest of his ironfisted grandfather. Though Lippmann’s is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don’t have the charm of Avital’s bakery. Or her grandfather’s world-famous pumpkin spice babka recipe.
As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets, especially as he helps her find the chronic pain relief—and pleasure—she’s been missing.
But perfecting the recipe for romance calls for leaving out the lies…even if coming clean means risking everything.
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]]>For years, I could not figure out what Judith Anne Washington wanted with me. As a result, the novel sat, untouched, for a few years. But in 2017, when I read the obituary for Alyce Dixon, who had recently died at age 108, I found Judy’s destination. Ms. Dixon was one of the oldest female veterans in America and one of a few surviving members of the Six Triple Eight. Her obituary said that at 16 she changed the spelling of her name to Alyce after going to a picture show featuring Alyce Mills – “She lived life on her own terms from that day forward.”
I love women who defy societal expectations, who decide that this finite life we’re gifted with can feel more infinite if we devote ourselves to the pursuit of inner freedom. I knew I had to learn more about the WACs. I started by reading everything I could: The Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project transcripts, The New York Public Library and the Schomburg’s digital archives, Darlene Clark Hine’s indispensable encyclopedia volumes, Black Women in America, and finally watched a screening of “The Six Triple Eight” documentary hosted by the Foundation for Women Warriors during the summer of 2020.
While Charity Adams, Abigail Campbell and Mary Alyce Dixon are based on real people, I fictionalized the main protagonist, Judy Washington, along with her husband, Herbert and her mother, Margaret. The members of the battalion, including Bernadette and Stacy, are completely made-up composites; though sadly three women enlisted did actually die in a car accident while the women were stationed in Rouen.
The theme of opportunity, or lack thereof, frames Judy’s aspirations to do more than what society expects of her as part of a longer arc of the history of Black people in America. As a result, it was important for me to locate her parents in history, and to note that they followed the trajectory of some six million Black people who were a part of The Great Migration from the fraught, racist and dangerous post-Reconstruction South to Northern, Midwestern and Western cities. They came seeking increased opportunities in the 1920s, but when the Depression hit, they found themselves in a new place with fewer options. As rough as the Great Depression was for everyone, like all hardships, it was doubly hard for Black workers because racism intensifies all the other barriers that come to bear on our lives. That context is important because Margaret, understandably, does not believe that the world will be more forgiving for her or her daughter in the North. Her life has shown her too much to believe in Judy’s optimism.
Hope is really all that is driving Judy and one thing I really admire about her is that she’s stubborn enough to hold on to it. We see her strong grasp of hope as she waits for word from her husband and when she tries to believe in the best about the women she works for on the Bronx Slave Market, another aspect of history that has gotten very little attention. On street corners in the Bronx near major thoroughfares starting in the 1930s, “slave marts” popped up where white housewives could find cheap domestic labor. Famed activist and SNCC mentor Ella Baker teamed up with journalist Marvel Cooke to write a two-part expose about the markets; they went undercover to write about what they called the Paper Bag Brigade – women who waited patiently on benches and crates with bags holding their cleaning gloves and clothes so that they could be exploited by housewives who, because of federal legislation barring immigrants from European countries who would have been their preferred live-in help, needed Black women to clean their houses to keep up middle-class appearances.
Judy’s early experiences on the Bronx Slave Market led her to embrace applying for the Women’s Army Corps. Ultimately her pursuit of freedom and autonomy is a symbol of the same sovereignty that has been elusive for us for too long. I don’t want to give any spoilers here, but I wanted her, and as many of the women in the book as possible, to have everything they ever wanted. All that they worked for and dreamed of. I know it’s not exactly how things worked out, but my legacy as a writer, I hope, will be connected to reimagining our histories and our futures as Black women as they are and have been: rooted in love, sisterhood and purpose.
The ultimate point of Women of the Post is to emphasize the ongoing, relentless fight it takes for each of us to dream our American Dreams, to try to live out the promise of freedom that has come to be a part of what it means to be American. Patriotism, pride in country, resilient service: These are not reserved by Americans of any one race, ethnicity or gender. The fight and heart it takes to have these values reflected in one’s life when the person sharing them with the world is Black and identifies as a woman is magnified. My deep love and respect for how the Six Triple Eight accepted that challenge and surpassed expectations for overcoming it is endless; I hope yours will be, too.
1944,New York City. Judy Washington is tired of having to work at the Bronx Slave Market, cleaning white women’s houses for next to nothing. She dreams of a bigger life, but with her husband fighting overseas, it’s up to her and her mother to earn enough for food and rent. When she’s recruited to join the Women’s Army Corps—offering a steady paycheck and the chance to see the world—Judy jumps at the opportunity.
During training, Judy becomes fast friends with the other women in her unit—Stacy, Bernadette and Mary Alyce—who all come from different cities and circumstances. Under Second Officer Charity Adams’s leadership, they receive orders to sort over one million pieces of mail in England, becoming the only unit of Black women to serve overseas during WWII.
The women work diligently, knowing that they’re reuniting soldiers with their loved ones through their letters. However, their work becomes personal when Mary Alyce discovers a backlogged letter addressed to Judy. Told through the alternating perspectives of Judy, Charity and Mary Alyce, Women of the Post is an unforgettable story of perseverance, female friendship and self-discovery.
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]]>What was your inspiration for this book? Was it a lightbulb moment or a slow build?
It was a lightbulb moment. I actually had half the book written in two POVs, but felt like there was that one thing I just couldn’t find in my research. Then I came across a diary of Warsaw’s public librarians during the Warsaw Uprising. After I had those names and started digging more, I found a whole wealth of information about how the public librarians saved books during the Nazi occupation, including building false walls to hide them, and having a secret warehouse to store them in. At that point, I had way too much plot for two characters and decided to go with just one POV. I threw out the entire half book I’d written and started over from scratch. It was hard to do, but totally worth it.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing this book?
There was so much information to put into the book that it was hard to pick and choose what to use. My research included over a hundred nonfiction books in addition to traveling to Warsaw for two weeks. It’s truly incredible how much of the war is left behind in the city almost a hundred years later. After all my efforts, I had over fifteen spiralbound notebooks filled with handwritten notes. It was very important to me that I covered the entire war in Poland from the onset in September 1939 and into 1945. There was a very specific reason I needed to go into May 1945 – you’ll see why when you read it 😉 But putting almost six years into one novel is quite a feat. I can’t tell you how many times I stared at all my notes and my plot and wondered how this wouldn’t be an 800 page book. It took a lot of finessing on my part, but in the end, I’m proud of the book I’ve written and feel it really encompasses the Polish spirit I wanted to illustrate.
Are any of your characters inspired by real people or events?
The book is inspired by the actual events of Warsaw’s public librarians based off journals and secret documentation I was able to uncover. Their incredibly brave efforts to save books and preserve culture even amid the threat of death was so inspiring, I had to write this story. I have also included some real people in my plot as well and hope readers check out the Author’s Note to learn a little more after they’ve finished the book.
How do you approach research for your books?
I confess, I love research. That’s where I start every historical fiction novel that I write. I find relevant articles and books and immediately scour the bibliography to get more titles to research. In doing this, I have amassed quite a research library – many of these texts are sadly now out of print. I usually spend about ten months in the research process, reading through as many nonfiction books as I can, gathering firsthand accounts, and even researching the history of the country way beyond the year I’m writing in. I even start learning the language. One of the last steps is that I travel to the location of my book where I spend so much time in museums that I’ve had security guards start to follow me around LOL
For The Keeper of Hidden Books, I went to Warsaw for two weeks with my mother (who called dibs on traveling with me when she found out I was going to Poland). I had an amazing tour guide who had a massive list of items I wanted more information on and to see. Our tours were eight hours on the days we met up and she was such an amazing source of knowledge.
85% of Warsaw was destroyed during the Nazi Occupation. To rebuild, large chunks were added to new building materials resulting in a city-wide puzzle that is forever left with the scars of war. The uniqueness of Warsaw is unlike any city I’ve ever visited and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to go.
Can you tell us about your writing process? Do you follow a specific routine or schedule?
As far as my daily process, I’m currently in the ‘chauffeur’ stage of motherhood, meaning I have to write in random bits and chunks as appointments, friend drop offs, and extra curriculars allow. But a bonus is that I have a lot of extra time to listen to audiobooks with all that driving.
As far as my process in approaching a novel, I am very detailed. I put in the research first as stated in my response above. Only then do I create my character charts and outline key historical events I want to incorporate into my novel. I flesh out my outline in exact detail so it is almost chapter by chapter and creates a great roadmap for me to follow. Then I begin to write. I have a dear friend who reads my book as I write it which helps me know I’m on the right track. Once the book is completely written, I do a cover-to-cover read through and send it off to my editor. That’s always the most anxious part, waiting to hear if they like it. Then it’s on to edits, copy edits, and then a couple passes over the final pages before print. Through those last parts, I continue to research and tweak and massage the book until I’m satisfied. The entire process is absolutely a labor of love.
What themes do you tend to explore in your writing?
I really love to explore the lives of everyday people. I love how extraordinary situations make people reach into pockets of strength they didn’t know they have, and how through that uncovered strength, they are able to help others and bring community together no matter what life throws their way.
I confess, I also love to write books about books. This has a lot to do with the fact that I’m a reader and always have been. Books are such an integral part of my life – either thinking about my current book I’m reading or being reminded of something I’ve read, or even sparking ideas for books I’d like to write. Books have a deep place in my heart, and I love to include them.
Do you have any writing habits or quirks that are unique to you?
I like to have images for all my characters, so I pull them from real pictures online. That said, I can never actually share these images with anyone as I don’t have any creative rights to them…and they very well could be someone’s grandmother or grandfather!
One time, my dad was in my office and wanted me to show him my writing process. I pulled out my character details and he pointed to a picture, saying, “Is that Bing Crosby?” As it turns out, the man was Bing Crosby – but to me, he was also Antoine LOL
Can you describe your favorite writing spot or environment?
Honestly, at home. Terribly boring, I know. However, I have one cat who likes to sit in my lap and another who naps at my feet, and I love those sweet snuggles. I admit, wearing sweatpants into the ‘office’ every day is a bonus too.
And there’s another reason I prefer to stay at home…I emote a lot while writing. If a character is mad, I’m glaring at the screen as I’m typing. If something sad or heartfelt happens, I’m plucking at tissues and sobbing while writing. That said, I don’t usually write in public lest someone at Starbucks wonder why I’m glaring in their direction or becoming a weepy mess in public.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I hope that readers will come away with an appreciation for the brave people who fought back during the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. Not only did they risk everything to save others, but they also preserved culture when the Nazis were set on destroying it. I think culture is something easily taken for granted – it’s easy to forget that people have fought to ensure it continues on for generations. For me, knowing what I do now makes me even more grateful for the family traditions we celebrate from my Polish side.
All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving.
With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto.
But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families – and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left – literature.
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