“In her latest book The Mitford Affair, Benedict plunges readers into a world of glamorous, charismatic young British debutantes and then turns that shiny world on its head. I was blown away–learning this true story of the Mitford sisters and the roles they played for and against the Nazis was nothing short of astonishing. Benedict delivers with all that readers have come to love and expect from her: nuance, elan, and the most delicious storytelling.” ― Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post
Author Marie Benedict’s 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. The CLS, in collaboration with Buxton Books, welcomes Benedict for a Lite Lunch on January 25th to launch her newest novel, The Mitford Affair. This novel, based on a true story, 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.
Tickets are $25 for CLS members and $35 for guests. Free for students by calling the number listed below and showing a valid ID at check in (please note: boxed lunch not included with free admittance).
To purchase tickets, click here or call 843-723-9912.
Marie Benedict will be pre-signing books from 11:15am, before her program, at CLS. To pre order your book with Buxton Books, click here.
About the Book:
Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters — each more beautiful, brilliant, and eccentric than the next — dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they’ve weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her wealthy husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister’s lead all the way to Munich, inciting rumors that she’s become Hitler’s mistress.
As the Nazis rise in power, novelist Nancy Mitford grows suspicious of her sisters’ constant visits to Germany and the high-ranking fascist company they keep. When she overhears alarming conversations and uncovers disquieting documents, Nancy must make excruciating choices as Great Britain goes to war with Germany.
Probing the torrid political climate in the lead-up to World War II and the ways that seemingly sensible people can be sucked into radical action, The Mitford Affair follows Nancy’s valiant efforts to stop the Nazis from taking over Great Britain, and the complicated choices she must make between the personal and the political.
About Marie Benedict:
Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years of 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, next is The Only Woman in the Room – the story of the brilliant inventor Hedy Lamarr, which was the New York Times bestseller and Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick. Lady Clementine, the story of the incredible Clementine Churchill became an international bestseller, along with The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Personal Librarian, and 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 finally, her newest release The Mitford Affair.
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.