Join CLS and Buxton Books on Thursday, June 29, for a publication week author talk with Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray on their new book, The First Ladies!
After the success of their first title together, The Personal Librarian, we could not be more excited for this new release.
The evening will begin at 6:00 pm as the duo discusses the writing of the book, the often unrecognized contributions of women throughout history, and the partnership between Eleanor Roosevelt and one of the most notable historical figures to come out of South Carolina – namely Mary McLeod Bethune. After the event, Marie and Victoria will hang around to answer your questions and sign and personalize books!
Tickets are available for 1 Person, 1 Book or as a 2 People, 1 Book package. Both ticket options include a signed hardcover copy of The First Ladies.
Find out more and purchase tickets here!
About The First Ladies:
A novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune—an unlikely friendship that changed the world, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian.
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her acquaintance. Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in women’s rights and the power of education, Mary and Eleanor become fast friends confiding their secrets, hopes and dreams—and holding each other’s hands through personal and professional strife.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president, the two women begin to collaborate more closely, particularly as Eleanor moves toward her own agenda separate from FDR, a consequence of the devastating discovery of her husband’s secret love affair. Eleanor becomes a controversial First Lady for her outspokenness, particularly on civil rights. And when she receives threats because of her strong ties to Mary, it only fuels the women’s desire to fight together for justice and equality.
This is the story of two different, yet equally formidable, passionate, and committed women, and the way in which their singular friendship helped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement.
About Marie Benedict:
Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern day issues. She embarked on a new, thematically connected series of historical novels with The Other Einstein, which tells the tale of Albert Einstein’s first wife, a physicist herself, and the role she might have played in his theories. The next novel in this series is the USA Today bestselling Carnegie’s Maid — which released in January of 2018 — and the book that followed is the New York Times bestseller and Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick The Only Woman in the Room, the story of the brilliant inventor Hedy Lamarr, which published in January of 2019. In January of 2020, Lady Clementine, the story of the incredible Clementine Churchill, was released, and became an international bestseller. Her next novel, the Instant NYTimes and USAToday bestselling The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, was published on December 29, 2020, and her first co-written book with the talented Victoria Christopher Murray, the instant NYTimes bestseller and Good Morning America Book Club Pick The Personal Liberian, was released on June 29, 2021. Her latest novel, Her Hidden Genius, about the brilliant British scientist Rosalind Franklin who discovered the structure of DNA but whose research was used without her permission by Crick and Watson to win the Nobel Prize. And, in January of 2023, she will release The Mitford Affair, which explores the role that history’s most notorious sisters — the beautiful, brilliant, eccentric Mitfords — played in the rise of World War II, both for and against the Nazis. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also published the historical novels The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare. Marie’s novels have been translated into twenty-nine languages.
About Victoria Christopher Murray:
A native of Queens, Victoria earned a B.A. in Communication Disorders from Hampton University and an MBA from New York University. Victoria spent ten years in Corporate America before launching her entrepreneurial venture, a Financial Services Agency for Aegon, USA where she managed the number one division for nine consecutive years.
Dubbed a Christian Fiction writer because no one else was writing about religious topics, Victoria trailblazed the literary scene penning more than 30 novels, co-writing with other authors, and ghostwriting for top talent across the country.
Victoria lives in Washington, D.C. She is a jogger, doting grandmother, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
This is a ticketed event. To purchase your tickets, please click here!