An Event with Julie Gerstenblatt

Please join the Newtown Bookshop as we welcome Julie Gerstenblatt in conversation with Rachel Levy Lesser and Jenna Blum to the Newtown Bookshop on Wednesday, April 12th at 6:30pm!  Julie Gerstenblatt will be celebrating the release of "Daughters of Nantucket"!

ONE OF ZIBBY OWENS' MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR!

"Gerstenblatt's distinctive tale, a triumph in storytelling, celebrates the courage and tenacity of women." -- Booklist, starred review

"A memorable story of friendship and courage." --Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris

ABOUT THE BOOK

Set against Nantucket's Great Fire of 1846, this sweeping, emotional novel brings together three courageous women battling to save everything they hold dear ...

Nantucket in 1846 is an island set apart not just by its geography but by its unique circumstances. With their menfolk away at sea, often for years at a time, women here know a rare independence--and the challenges that go with it.

Eliza Macy is struggling to conceal her financial trouble as she waits for her whaling captain husband to return from a voyage. In desperation, she turns against her progressive ideals and targets Meg Wright, a pregnant free Black woman trying to relocate her store to Main Street. Meanwhile, astronomer Maria Mitchell loves running Nantucket's Atheneum and spending her nights observing the stars, yet she fears revealing the secret wishes of her heart.

On a sweltering July night, a massive fire breaks out in town, quickly kindled by the densely packed wooden buildings. With everything they possess now threatened, these three very different women are forced to reevaluate their priorities and decide what to save, what to let go and what kind of life to rebuild from the ashes of the past.

ABOUT JULIE GERSTENBLATT

Julie Gerstenblatt holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Cognoscenti, among others. When not writing, Julie is a college essay coach, as well as a producer and on-air host for A Mighty Blaze. A native New Yorker, Julie now lives in coastal Rhode Island with her family and one very smart shichon poo. Daughters of Nantucket is her first novel.

ABOUT RACHEL LEVY LESSER

Rachel Levy Lesser is the author of Life’s Accessories, A Memoir (And Fashion Guide.) The book served as the inspiration for Rachel’s podcast, Life’s Accessories which she created and co-hosts with fellow author Stephanie Goldstein. Rachel’s articles and essays have appeared in The Huffington Post, Glamour.com, Parenting.com, Kveller and Modern Loss, among others. Rachel’s work has been featured in the anthologies, Letters from Motherless Daughters and Moms Don’t Have Time To. She received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from the University of Michigan. In a previous life, Rachel worked at Time Inc. on magazines including InStyle, People and Real Simple. She is currently the host of Blaze Baking With Rach on A Mighty Blaze where she interviews authors as she bakes with them. When not writing, baking or podcasting, Rachel can be found practicing yoga, knitting scarves and wearing them, almost every day.

ABOUT JENNA BLUM

JENNA BLUM is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us, The Stormchasers, and The Lost Family; the memoir Woodrow on the Bench, and the original audio drama THE KEY OF LOVE. Jenna is one of Oprah’s Top 30 Women Writers and the CEO of literary social media marketing company A Mighty Blaze. Jenna is a national and international public speaker, has interviewed Holocaust survivors for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation, and is based in Boston, where she has taught writing workshops at Boston University and Grub Street Writers for over 20 years. Learn more about Jenna at www.jennablum.com and follow her adventures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.