An Author and Her Books, Kerri Maher

Her sweet spot is biographical historical fiction

Hi readers,

Happy New Year! I hope you had a Happy New Year’s Eve, day, and weekend that included rest, relaxation, and reading good books. The new year brings introspection about the past and hope, dreams, and goals about the future. I looked at the books I read last year, and I’m disappointed in my reading life because I didn’t read very many really good books, which is unusual for me. Almost everything I read was just mediocre, only a few are memorable, but all filled the purpose of an escape. Given the last couple of years, I guess I should be happy that books and reading provided that escape, but I want more from my reading life. I’m working on that by taking my time in designing the reading life that I want for 2022, and if you are a planner like me, I hope you spend some time creating a meaningful reading life for yourself too.

In my continuing quest to find great authors writing great books, I discovered a new to me author a couple of months ago that has written three books so far. In discovering her, I’ve learned about a relatively new label for some historical fiction called biographical historical fiction. I’m still confused about that term and what makes it different from historical fiction, but I’ll figure that out later. For now, let’s meet this new author.

Karri Maher knew early on she wanted to be a writer. Raised in California during her formative years, she still considers herself a California girl, even though she has lived on the East Coast most of her life. In her memoir, This is Not a Writing Manual (writing as Kerri Majors), she tells plenty of stories about her youth and “learning from eavesdropping and watching soap operas, how Dead Poet’s Society inspired her, and how she hated her writer friends that were more successful.” She says, “not to worry, she got over that and, over herself.” She is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and has her MFA from Columbia and taught writing for eight years before becoming a full-time writer. She currently lives outside of Boston with her daughter Elena and their dog and loves taking advantage of everything Boston has to offer. She is presently working on her fourth novel, which comes out in 2023, and I can’t wait to see what historical figure she tackles next.

• The Kennedy Debutante - described as the “captivating novel following the exploits of the forgotten and rebellious daughter of one of America’s greatest political dynasties, The Kennedy’s.” This debut book garnered rave reviews from authors, readers, media, and industry professionals, saying that the research is impeccable and it’s an insightful look at the complexities of the Kennedy family and the forgotten daughter that died way too young. I’ve not yet read this book, but I downloaded it from my library, and it will be the next book I read.

• The Girl in White Gloves: A Novel of Grace Kelly - From NY Times best-selling author Marie Benedict, “A captivating look behind the scenes at the life of the iconic Grace Kelly… as she searches for authenticity in a world clamoring instead for a picture-perfect princess.” Fiona Davis says that this book is “daring and deep. Maher successfully lifts the curtain of mystery that surrounded a princess and a movie star, revealing a headstrong, complex woman with a riveting story to tell.” I’ve read many books about Grace Kelly, but most focus on the glitz and glamour of being royalty. It sounds like this one focuses more on who she was and her struggles behind the scenes. I haven’t read this one yet, but I probably will at some point this year.

• The Paris Bookseller - from the publisher “The dramatic story of how a humble bookseller fought against incredible odds to bring one of the most important books of the 20th century to the world.” I love books about books and bookstores, and this one did not disappoint. The characters are well developed and come alive as the writing transports you to Paris in the 1920s. The descriptions of people and places are so vivid you can see them in your mind. Famous writers dropped into the bookshop from time to time. I enjoyed the author’s notes at the end. I knew very little about this piece of history; it was fun to read. This book publishes on January 11th.

Links to interviews and articles you might be interested in:

• A discussion at Millis Public Library with Kerri about The Kennedy Debutante where she talks about how she got the idea for the book and talked about her next book about Grace Kelly.

• This interview with Maher at the annual Arnold Lecture hosted by Wellesley Public Media, where she discusses how her first two books came to be.

• An interview on The Avid Pen blog about why she wrote about Grace Kelly.

• This podcast interview on the Just One More Chapter Podcast, season 3, episode 49 about Grace Kelly.

• A podcast interview on the Write About Now Podcast on March 2, 2020, about writing historical fiction.

You can find out more about Kerri Maher on her website, Facebook page, and Instagram, and check out one or more of her upcoming events to launch The Paris Bookseller starting next week. Have you read either of her first two books? If you have, I’d love to hear if you liked them. You can tell me in the comments below.

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The best definition that I’ve found of biographical historical fiction comes from an article in the UK publication, The History Press. It says that “biographical fiction is the art of bringing historical figures back to life. It turns a name in the history books into a person so vivid, complex, and yet comprehensible that history itself becomes more understandable.” I’m still learning how to recognize this type of HF. I know that I really enjoyed The Paris Bookseller, and I’m excited to read her other two books.

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I’m so happy that I stumbled upon Maher late last year when I received an ARC from Net Galley. Even though I’d seen her previous two books on social media and book lists, I hadn’t read either of them yet; they weren’t on my radar as there are just too many books and not enough time to read everything that looks interesting. All that has changed now, and I’m looking forward to 2023 for her next book.

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I hope you have a great first week of the new year; stay warm and well, and happy reading!

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