Author Talk & Book Signing with Julie Gerstenblatt — DAUGHTERS OF NANTUCKET — March 23 at 6 p.m.
Join Ink Fish Books as we welcome local author Julie Gerstenblatt who will transport readers to the windswept world of 1846 Nantucket — and a dramatic event that changed the tiny island forever — in her sweeping historical fiction debut, Daughters of Nantucket (released March 14, 2023).
About the Book
Centered around Nantucket’s Great Fire of 1846, the story follows Eliza, Meg and Maria: three very different women whose lives intersect as they fight to survive the blaze and overcome their own personal struggles.
Whaling captain wife Eliza Macy is waiting for her husband to return from a long voyage — while simultaneously hiding her financial trouble — when, in desperation, she turns against her progressive ideals and targets Meg Wright, a pregnant, free Black woman trying to relocate her store to the town’s Main Street. Meanwhile, Maria Mitchell spends every night observing the stars as she runs Nantucket’s Atheneum, but is hiding her own secrets of the heart.
At the time, women experienced an unusual independence for the 1800s as the island’s men went out to sea, sometimes for years. Daughters of Nantucket explores how these characters both struggle with and enjoy the rare freedom they have — and how the town’s thriving Black community lives an almost-equal, yet separate existence from their Quaker neighbors.
Praise for Daughters of Nantucket
"Daughters Of Nantucket is thoroughly enjoyable historical fiction, beautifully researched and very authentic. You will be swept up from page one!"
—Jane Green, author of SISTER STARDUST and THE BEACH HOUSE
“Gerstenblatt artfully weaves in modern issues and challenges in this gorgeously written novel, leaving us wiser and more optimistic for our own times.”
—Nancy Thayer, Best-selling author of SUMMER LOVE
“Meticulously researched, Gerstenblatt presents a fascinating look at an island ahead of its time, where women exercised privileges often reserved for men and where blacks shared in the civil liberties of their white neighbors. At its heart, this is a story of love, loss and redemption.”
—Renee Rosen USA Today best-selling author THE SOCIAL GRACES
About the Author
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.
Books will be for sale and signing at the event. You can purchase copies in advance online here, or if you would like a signed copy email the store at info@inkfishbooks.com.