by Stephanie Dray | Dec 9, 2021 | For Readers, Frances Perkins, Research
My research for my forthcoming novel has brought me to Albany at the turn of the century and into the 1910s. It was apparently a rather squalid place, and Frances wasn’t much impressed by the condition of the state capitol building, which was stained with cigar...
by Stephanie Dray | Nov 17, 2021 | For Readers, Heroines, Marthe, My Works, The Women of Chateau Lafayette
COVER REVEAL! The Women of Chateau Lafayette is coming out in paperback in March and it’s got a fabulous new spring wardrobe for the occasion. This is a picture of the real castle in the background! (The front side without the tall square tower–the castle...
by Stephanie Dray | Jul 14, 2021 | For Readers, Frances Perkins
I’ll keep this updated as I stumble over more. “The accusation that I am a woman is incontrovertible.” “The worst they can say about me is that I’m a humanitarian and I have to admit it.” “It’s our job as women, as...
by Stephanie Dray | Jul 13, 2021 | Adrienne Lafayette, Heroines, My Works, The Women of Chateau Lafayette
This week marks a sad anniversary of the so-called Champs de Mars Massacre in Paris France, on July 17, 1791. The country was ostensibly a constitutional monarchy, but the king and the royal family had just fled Paris, only to be recognized on the road, and returned...
by Stephanie Dray | Jun 14, 2021 | Beatrice Chanler, My Works, The Women of Chateau Lafayette
On June 19, 1946 Beatrice Chanler passed away. She was traveling by train with French diplomat Alexis Leger, also known as Nobel prize winning poet Saint-John Perse. The two had spent summers together at her home in Islesboro, Maine since his exile from France after...
by Stephanie Dray | May 17, 2021 | Frances Perkins, Works in Progress
I love writing about unsung historical women, and my next subject will be Frances Perkins, the Founding Mother of 20th century America. FDR’s right hand woman, the first female cabinet secretary, and the woman whose lonely fight to save Jewish refugees from the...
