Sewickley author to Monroeville audience: Readers are hungry for women’s voices
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A Sewickley author wants to give history’s overshadowed women a second chance in an era where people are “hungering” for these stories.
“It feels like I’m on a mission to excavate these really key women – it’s a real honor,” said Marie Benedict, a breakthrough writer whose historical novels have recently reached bestseller lists in USA Today and The New York Times.
Benedict’s latest novel, “Lady Clementine,” features the life of Clementine Churchill, Winston’s wife.
“ ‘Lady Clementine’ is the ferocious story of the ambitious woman beside Winston Churchill, the story of a partner who did not flinch through the sweeping darkness of war, and who would not surrender either to expectations or to enemies,” reads the publisher’s description of the book that hit bookstores Tuesday.
Benedict kicked off the book’s release at an event at the Monroeville Barnes & Noble store. Around 25 people sat to listen to the author talk about Clementine, which she noted is properly pronounced “Clemen-teen.”
Madhu Nair of Allison Park said he enjoyed Benedict’s “down to earth, kitchen-table quality” talk.
“I’m recently retired, so I’m indulging in my passions,” he said before buying one of Benedict’s novels. He then waited in a line to meet Benedict and have her sign the book.
Arden Hamer of Murrysville also waited in line.
“This was interesting because there’s not a lot written about women,” said Harmer, who has read two of the author’s books with her book club.
Benedict described Clementine’s life as epic. She hopes the story inspires her readers.
“When they cast their gaze back to the early modern events that shaped our lives today — mainly World War II — I hope they see her there,” Benedict said. “I hope they see her hand in so many policies that were adopted, in the speeches Winston made – that they see her presence.”
Benedict, who holds history and law degrees from Boston College and Boston University School of Law, worked as an attorney for a decade in New York City before moving into her current role as a novelist.
“I knew (being a lawyer) wasn’t what I was meant to be doing,” she said. She considers it an honor to be able to now “use all my skills” as a historical novelist.
The first of what has turned into several books focusing on historical women featured Mileva Maric, a Serbian physicist and mathematician who also happened to be Albert Einstein’s first wife. The novel is called “The Other Einstein.”
Benedict then wrote a novel inspired by an Irish immigrant hired as a maid to serve in Andrew Carnegie’s Pittsburgh home – “Carnegie’s Maid.” And her latest novel, “The Only Woman in the Room,” focused on Hedy Lamarr’s life before she became a screen starlet in Hollywood.
“The Only Woman in the Room” was a New York Times Bestseller and Barnes & Noble chose it as its national book club pick for January 2019. “Carnegie’s Maid” made USA Today’s bestseller’s list. Benedict was shortlisted in the American Booksellers Association’s Indie Next List in December, and included in LibraryReads as a Hall of Fame Author.
“The Other Einstein” and “Carnegie’s Maid” have been optioned for films.
Benedict partly attributes her success to society’s current feminist bent. But she thinks readers have long been wanting stories about underappreciated women.
“I see the way they relate to these stories,” she said of her readers. “These women have a tie to the modern day, there’s a connection there. So certainly the success, in part, ties into where we are as a society, where we’re making sure women’s voices are heard. But people have been thirsting for these stories for a while.”
Hamer agrees.
“It might be the right time for these types of novels,” she said. “But is it a reason for success? No. (The) reason is she’s telling a good story.”
Benedict will launch “Lady Clementine” at 6 p.m. Friday at Penguin Bookshop, Sewickley.