Ambrose to address Friends of Pine Island Library

The Friends of the Pine Island Library will be hosting an author talk at the Pine Island United Methodist Church Tuesday, April 11, at 1:30 p m Complimentary r e f r e s h m e n t s w i l l b e p r o v i d e d b y t h e church.

Local author Marty Ambrose will be the speaker She is the author of a historical mystery trilogy “Claire’s Last Secret,” “A Shadowed Fate” and “Forever Past” all set around the Byron/Shelley circle in 19th century Italy Her novels have earned starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly, as well as a gold medal for historical fiction in the Florida Writers Association’s Literary Palm Award Her work has been featured internationally in blogs, journals and websites; and her new stand-alone historical mystery with women’s fiction elements, “A Forsaken Vow,” will be published in fall 2023

Ambrose Marty will be talking about unveiling Frankenstein from a proto-feminist perspective a n d t h e f a c t s a n d f i c t i o n behind Mary Shelley and C l a i r e C l a i r m o n t ’ s s c a ndalous lives. She will share how doing the background work for the Clairmont hist o r i c a l m y s t e r y t r i l o g y involved journeying down complex avenues, because many of her characters are actual literary figures who possessed a large degree of fame from their work (which means they have modern-day devotees)

Marty Ambrose

Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley all figure prominently in her books, though their lives are narrated by the “almost famous” member of their circle, Claire Clairmont (Mary Shelley’s step sister) She had to pay respect to their well-known personas, but also finds a way to make them work as characters in h e r o w n m y s t e r i e s a tricky process, to say the least.

So how does an author find that balance between fact and fiction, especially w h e n w r i t i n g a b o u t t w o w o m e n w h o l i v e d s c a ndalous lives for their time?

Ambrose reveals that as “proto-feminists,” Mary and C l a i r e w e r e n o t s e e k i n g equality with men but simply a position in society that did not necessarily relegate them to the home, where they were isolated and completely dependent on their husbands financially, socially and intellectually And yet they were, to some degree They lived and loved as unconventional rebels, carving out their own paths in life, but they were also women who experienced the great joys and great losses as mothers and wives, which is the essence of their intertwined stories

Sponsored by Friends of the Pine Island Library, there is no fee for guests, but please register by calling 239-454-9196 o r e m a i l i n g A u t h o r T a l k P I L i b r a r y @ gmail com so that complimentary refreshments can be accurately ordered

The Friends of the Pine Island Library is a n i n d e p e n d e n t , n o n - p r o f i t v o l u n t e e r organization dedicated to providing support for the services and resources of the library

The United Methodist Church of Pine Island is at 5701 Pine Island Road, N.W., Bokeelia Please call or text 239-4549196 if you have questions