"A Founding Mother" with Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

"A Founding Mother" with Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

As the U.S. celebrates its 250th year of independence and its founding fathers, a new book celebrates a founding mother. Authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie talked with Mary about "A Founding Mother," their novel based on the life of Abigail Adams. She was the wife of one American president and the mother of another. As an important advisor to both men, Adams has a unique place in American history. During most of the American Revolution, Adams was alone with her children on the front lines of the war in Massachusetts. She managed the Adams farm, while also defending it. Adams was a prolific correspondent and Dray and Kamoie told Mary how they used her letters in their manuscript to allow her to speak for herself. The authors said Adams's directness surprised them. Dray and Kamoie have co-authored historical fiction novels about Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton, and Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter. Kamoie says Adams is a contrast to her contemporaries who are not as forthright and opinionated as Adams and that was a delight to write. Audio Excerpt from "A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams," by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. William Morrow, 2026. ClubCalvi.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Kimberly McCreight on "Someone Else's Husband"

Author Kimberly McCreight is back with a thriller that takes readers inside the marriage of a wealthy couple caught in a deadly love triangle, and to an expedition on Mount Kilimanjaro that ends in tragedy. McCreight's previous book, "Like Mother, Like Daughter," was a Club Calvi Readers' Choice in 2024. She talked to Mary about her new novel "Someone Else's Husband." It is a "most anticipated book of the summer" for many publications. McCreight told Mary how her climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, where she was the only woman on the expedition, inspired the book and one of the characters. McCreight also wanted to create a story that focuses on how women, specifically how 'the wife' and 'the other woman," are viewed in society. McCreight says they are often stereotyped, and she wanted to write a book where the stereotypes were not true. She did it while crafting a compelling murder mystery. Audio excerpted with permission of Penguin Random House Audio from SOMEONE ELSE'S HUSBAND by Kimberly McCreight, excerpt read by Kristen DiMercurio. Kimberly McCreight ℗ 2026 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Emma Straub on "American Fantasy" and finding joy after heartache

Emma Straub turned her love for a boy band into her latest New York Times bestselling book "American Fantasy." It's about a 50-year-old woman who is recently divorced, empty-nested, and having problems at work, and who travels solo on a boy-band cruise. As Straub told Mary, the character discovers "transcendence." Straub wrote the book after she went on a similar cruise to bring her joy as she healed after the death of her father, author Peter Straub. Emma Straub talks about her love of New Kids on the Block, finding bravery moving through middle age, and her love of books. Audio excerpted courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio from AMERICAN FANTASY by Emma Straub, read by Marin Ireland. © 2026 Emma Straub, ℗ 2026 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Mary Kay Andrews on "Road Trip" and the power of reinvention

New York Times Bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews says her books are about women reclaiming their power, discovering who they are, and who they can become. Her latest novel, "Road Trip" takes readers on a journey with two sisters, both broke, who haven't spoken in years and who are now forced together after their mother's death. A painting in their mother's home might be worth millions, and they take a trip to Ireland to solve the mystery. Andrews told Mary how she used her family history and the true-crime story of stolen paintings from a grand estate in Ireland as springboards for the book. Andrews also sprinkled in "some kissing and some killing."  She also shared that even after 34 published novels she still suffers from imposter-syndrome, believing that she will fail every time. She has trick a to overcome the self-doubt. Audio excerpt from ROAD TRIP Trip by Mary Kay Andrews Copyright © 2026 by the author and excerpted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Fiona Davis on the Met Gala, Ancient Egypt, and "The Stolen Queen" (February 2025)

Fiona Davis brings the forgotten histories and dramatic stories of iconic New York City buildings to life in her historical fiction novels. Among her books, she's written about Radio City Music hall in "The Spectacular," the Frick mansion in "The Magnolia Palace," and the New York Public Library in "The Lions of Fifth Avenue." Her latest book "The Stolen Queen," a dual timeline set in the Metropolitan Museum as it readies for a Met Gala in the 1970s, and in Egypt in the 1930s, was a 2025 Club Calvi Readers' Choice. Now, the New York Times bestseller is out in paperback. Mary talked to Davis about her road to becoming a published author, with stops along the way working as an actress and a journalist, and why New York City is an enduring inspiration. Audio excerpted with permission of Penguin Random House Audio from THE STOLEN QUEEN by Fiona Davis, read by Linda Jones. © Fiona Davis ℗ 2025 Penguin Random House, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]