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| Credit: Kate Furek |
Stephanie Dray is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, & USA Today bestselling author of historical women’s fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into many languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. Now she lives in Maryland with her husband, cats, and history books. (Bio courtesy of Stephanie's website.)
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Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference.
When she’s not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell’s Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists, and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love.
But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. She thinks he’s a rich, arrogant dilettante who gets by on a handsome face and a famous name. He thinks she’s a priggish bluestocking and insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.
Frances is destined to rise in a political world dominated by men, facing down the Great Depression as FDR’s most trusted lieutenant—even as she struggles to balance the demands of a public career with marriage and motherhood. And when vicious political attacks mount and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, she must decide what she’s willing to do—and what she’s willing to sacrifice—to save a nation. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
"Becoming Madam Secretary is a proud anthem to a forgotten founding mother. Stephanie Dray's love and respect for this American heroine shines from every page, as does her impeccable research. Unputdownable!"
—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye
“An inspiring tribute to an audacious, brilliant woman who fought ferociously against the mistreatment of the poor and working class in the last century and in doing so transformed American democracy. Dray’s three-dimensional portrayal of Perkins’s life and times is both astonishing and infuriating in the best of ways, a gripping tale of a woman who refused to back down. Powerful and timely.”
—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular
“A page-turning tribute to a woman who refused to give up, a woman who inspires us even now, and a woman who saved a nation. Stephanie Dray brings Frances Perkins, and everyone around her, so alive you feel she will walk off the page. With an indomitable heroine for our times, Becoming Madam Secretary is destined to be a classic of historical fiction.”
—Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times Bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea
What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
I’ve been told that my writing can be very vivid and evocative, appealing to all the senses. This is a favorite compliment of mine, because in my drafting phase, it often feels like two heads talking in a blank room. So if there are any details, it’s because I worked hard to put them in after the fact.
If you could tell the debut novelist version of yourself one thing, what would it be?
You have a really long slog ahead of yourself.
What inspired you to write about Frances Perkins?
I had wanted to tell another story about an American founding mother, but it hadn’t occurred to me that there might be a founding mother in the 20th century until I learned about Frances Perkins and once I understood her accomplishments, how they have defined a century, I decided that she was THE most important woman in American history. How can you not want to write about that woman?
What is the last book you read that you would recommend?
I have been on a great reading streak. I loved The Phoenix Crown, The Frozen River, and Demon Copperhead.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
This is a hilarious question. I have never been asked this question before. I have never thought about this. But what comes to mind is Marissa Tomei. Specifically using the voice she uses in My Cousin Vinny.
If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you would take us to see?
Annapolis harbor! Beautiful bay, adorable town, historic statehouse, tasty cookies plus a poignant monument inspired by Roots.
I’ve been told that my writing can be very vivid and evocative, appealing to all the senses. This is a favorite compliment of mine, because in my drafting phase, it often feels like two heads talking in a blank room. So if there are any details, it’s because I worked hard to put them in after the fact.
If you could tell the debut novelist version of yourself one thing, what would it be?
You have a really long slog ahead of yourself.
What inspired you to write about Frances Perkins?
I had wanted to tell another story about an American founding mother, but it hadn’t occurred to me that there might be a founding mother in the 20th century until I learned about Frances Perkins and once I understood her accomplishments, how they have defined a century, I decided that she was THE most important woman in American history. How can you not want to write about that woman?
What is the last book you read that you would recommend?
I have been on a great reading streak. I loved The Phoenix Crown, The Frozen River, and Demon Copperhead.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
This is a hilarious question. I have never been asked this question before. I have never thought about this. But what comes to mind is Marissa Tomei. Specifically using the voice she uses in My Cousin Vinny.
If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you would take us to see?
Annapolis harbor! Beautiful bay, adorable town, historic statehouse, tasty cookies plus a poignant monument inspired by Roots.
Thanks to Stephanie for chatting with us and to Berkley for sharing her book with our readers.
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Listen to this book on Speechify!
My great-grandfather, Sidney Ball, is well known in the Oxford University, England, community and beyond and is celebrated annually during their annual Sidney Ball Memorial lectures instituted by Barnett House and named after their first chairman of the Barnett House Committee, Sidney Ball. The event brings a distinguished speaker to discuss key themes in social policy and intervention. It would be cool to read an historical fiction based on his life and work.
ReplyDeleteEunice Kennedy Shriver
ReplyDeleteQueen Victoria
ReplyDeleteI would say Abraham Lincoln.
ReplyDeleteRosalind Franklin, Marie Curie or any woman in science.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are lots of them out there & I just haven't read one, but I'd like to read a book about Russian's Catherine the Great!
ReplyDeleteLincoln
ReplyDeleteWitold Pilecki
ReplyDeleteGeorge Washington
ReplyDeleteAbe Lincoln
ReplyDelete