Penguin Bookshop presents The First Ladies

The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center, in partnership with the Penguin Bookshop, today announced an exclusive preview book signing and discussion event for the latest novel by Marie Benedict (the pen name of Sewickley native and Pittsburgher Heather Terrell) and Victoria Christopher Murray, one of the country’s top contemporary authors.

At the Monday, June 26, 7-9 p.m. event at The Lindsay Theater, 418 Walnut St., Sewickley, Benedict and Murray will sign copies of The First Ladies and talk about this historical novel which tells the story of the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. The book will not be released to the public until the day after the event. Big Spring Spirits, a Bellefonte-based distillery with a store in Sewickley, will offer cocktails for sale.

Advance registration is required for this ticketed event. Admission includes a copy of the book, which will be available for pickup at the event.

“We are thrilled to welcome these two exceptional authors to Sewickley and to welcome Benedict back to her hometown,” said Susan Hans O’Connor, Penguin Bookshop owner. “It is a wonderful symbiosis celebrating women: two talented writers tell the story of two amazing women who changed history. We’ve been eagerly awaiting the publication of The First Ladies and we are delighted to be able to offer this exclusive sneak preview to a local audience. We expect the evening to be enlightening, educational—and fun.”

The First Ladies tells of “two different, yet equally formidable, passionate and committed women, and the way in which their singular friendship helped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement,” according to publisher Penguin Random House.

Bethune, the daughter of formerly enslaved parents, marches as an activist and educator. As her reputation grows, she becomes a celebrity recognized by titans of business and U.S. presidents. When she meets Eleanor Roosevelt, the two are drawn together by their shared beliefs in women’s rights and the power of education. Roosevelt grows into a controversial First Lady for her outspokenness, particularly on civil rights.

Previously, Murray and Benedict authored together the New York Times best seller and Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian, and both are prolific authors in their own right.

Murray has written more than 20 novels and has more than a million books in print. Over the course of her career to date, Murray has received an NAACP Image Award, the Phillis Wheatley Trailblazer Award for African American Fiction, and nine African American Literary Awards, as well as a Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She holds an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business.

Benedict, a lawyer with more than 10 years of litigation experience, is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of numerous historical fiction works, including The Only Woman in the Room, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, Carnegie’s Maid, The Other Einstein and Lady Clementine.

The pair’s previous effort, The Personal Librarian, was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and a Notable Book of the Year by the Washington Post. It unveiled the story of Belle da Costa Greene, the Black woman forced to hide her identity as she worked in J.P. Morgan’s library alongside New York’s social elite. Good Morning America called it “historical fiction at its best.”