Hello, book lovers! This week, the book world is exploding with stories by and about powerful women. From politicians writing thrillers to beloved authors’ activism and those helping to turn the publishing industry on its head, this exciting mix of stories couldn’t wait for the upcoming month’s celebration of women to showcase the talent of all these incredible literary ladies.
Hillary Clinton and Novelist Louise Penny to Publish Political Thriller This Fall: The project presents new territory for both Penny, who is “best known for intricate murder mysteries,” and former secretary of state and first lady Clinton. “It is unusual for a prominent politician and a bestselling crime writer to team up on a novel, but it is not, of course, unprecedented.” Clinton’s husband and bestselling author James Patterson had success with their 2018 thriller The President is Missing. — The New York Times
Stacey Abrams on Breaking Ties With Her Pen Name for Forthcoming Legal Thriller: When Justice Sleeps, which will hit shelves this May, is not Abrams’s first novel, but it will be her first fictional work published under her own name. Her “first eight novels (all romances) were under the pen name Selena Montgomery,” a decision Abrams made to separate them from the articles she was publishing on tax exemption and taxation. Now for the first time, all her identities are known. — Variety
Isabel Allende’s New Book, The Soul of a Woman Is a Gift to the Next Generation of Young Women: “Though she is far from relinquishing her stake in the fight for equal rights,” Allende wishes to share in the fight with young women. Says Allende, “I am not ready to pass the torch and hopefully I never will be … I want to light the torches of our daughters and granddaughters with mine.” In her interview with the LA Times, she explains why she couldn’t have written the book until now. — Los Angeles Times
Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza Explores Her New Book With Readers: On the latest episode of BookTube, Garza discusses The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart with YouTube creators who shared their reactions to the book, resulting in a fascinating conversation about racial inequality, the future of the nation, parenthood and more. You won’t want to miss this powerful interview! — BookTrib
After Last Year’s #PublishingPaidMe, the Industry Responds With Change at the Top: Many writers took to Twitter last year to expose inequality within the publishing industry. As a result, the big-five publishers’ “move to hire executives and editors of color has been viewed by some as a sea change for the industry.” In an interview with nine members of “publishing’s new power club,” New York Magazine asked “about how they got their jobs and their hopes and fears for their new positions.” — New York Magazine
#OwnVoices: WFWA Shares 6 Diverse Books From Authentic Voices: In a movement that started with another Twitter campaign, #OwnVoices aims to “recommend diverse books, making the writing world more inclusive.” Gathered here are six such novels from voices that authentically represent the experiences of “LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.” — BookTrib
New Book Confident Women Explores Our Fascination With Female Con Artists: In an exciting follow-up to her book Lady Serial Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History, author Tori Telfer “examines unbelievable women that lied and cheated to get what they wanted.” To start Women’s History Month off with a twist so fun it’s criminal, dive into this book about “con women that have graced news headlines, podcasts, television series, and books — and become national obsessions in the process.” — Shondaland
Sadeqa Johnson Crafts a Powerful and Immersive Historical Novel in Yellow Wife: Taking her readers back to the pre-Civil War South, Johnson has penned a deft and transportive story about an enslaved woman, who on the brink of freedom, “is plucked from the relative safety of her mother’s care and dropped straight into the gruesome underbelly of the Virginia slave trade.” — BookTrib
Romance May Be the Life-Altering Cure to Our Ongoing Lives in Quarantine: Apparently, the “book version of Xanax” is romance novels, at least according to New York-based writer Marisa Meltzer. Here, Meltzer, who professes she’s “late to the game,” comments on the transforming romance landscape and the genre’s recent boom “in sales, in books being optioned for TV and film, in bookstore real estate, and in media interest.” — Elle
Secrets, Poison and Revenge: A Compelling Potion From Sarah’s Penner’s The Lost Apothecary: “Audacious, subversive, wildly imaginative, filled with richly imagined characters,” Penner’s thriller “will put you immediately under its spell — and have you eyeing your partner speculatively.” In an interview with Neil Nyren, Penner dove into her inspiration for the book, explaining her meticulous research and getting all the details right. — BookTrib
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