Author Talk: Julie Gerstenblatt, "The Stargazer of Nantucket" and Heather Webb, "The Hope Keeper"

Darien Library welcomes authors Julie Gerstenblatt and Heather Webb, who will discuss their books, The Stargazer of Nantucket and The Hope Keeper. Come join the fun as these authors talk about their inspirations and just how they brought these imagined worlds to life. Whether you're a longtime fan of historical fiction or simply love hearing how a great story comes together, come be part of the conversation!

Thursday, September 3rd at 7 p.m. in the Community Room.

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About The Stargazer of Nantucket and Julie Gerstenblatt
In 1851 Massachusetts, eighteen-year-old Winifred Starbuck defies her parents, renowned trade captains Nell and Peter, by stowing away on their final merchant voyage from Nantucket to San Francisco and on to China. As the ship sails toward Canton, she's plunged into treachery and adventure on the high seas while uncovering a long-buried secret behind her parents' desperate fear. Charting her own course through danger she never imagined, Winnie must find the courage to face a world—and a truth—far bigger than herself.

Julie Gerstenblatt is the author of Daughters of Nantucket, which won the 2024 New England Society Book Award for Fiction, and The Stargazer of Nantucket, a USA Today bestseller. A former educator, Julie holds two master’s degrees and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her essays have appeared in Huffington Post and Grown & Flown, among others. A native New Yorker who has been visiting Nantucket since childhood, Julie now lives in coastal Rhode Island with her family, where she works at Barrington Books.

About The Hope Keeper and Heather Webb
In 1919 Washington D.C., after her twin brother Julien's sudden death leaves her to save the family jewelry business, Elisabeth Beaumont turns to Julien's wealthy former circle—led by socialite Evalyn McLean, owner of the cursed Hope Diamond—for work. Drawn deeper into Evalyn's glittering, toxic world, Elisabeth finds her sense of identity and loyalty unraveling as she's torn between duty to her father, fascination with the diamond's dark pull, and doubts about the life she's building. When a sudden tragedy shatters her bond with Evalyn and her new glamorous existence, Elisabeth is forced to confront the truth of her brother's death and choose what she truly values.

Heather Webb is the USA Today and international bestselling author of eleven historical novels, including her upcoming The Hope Keeper and her other recently published Queens of London, The Next Ship Home, and Christmas with the Queen. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was a Goodreads Top Pick, and in 2018, Last Christmas in Paris won the Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Meet Me in Monaco, was selected as a finalist for the 2020 Goldsboro RNA award in the UK, as well as the 2019 Digital Book World’s Fiction prize. Three Words for Goodbye was a Prima Magazine’s 2022 Book of the Year. To date, Heather’s books have been translated to twenty languages. She lives in New England with her family and two mischievous cats.