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MORE THAN A THIEF
Author Beverly Patt stopped by The Book Stall in Winnetka on November 9 to read from her latest novel, which is based on the story of Lizzie Borden.
BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
When she was young, Beverly Patt was a voracious reader of Nancy Drew and other popular mysteries of the time. But it wasn’t until she took a position as a special education teacher at Maryville Academy, a school for kids with learning disabilities, that it occurred to her she could write books of her own.
“A lot of the kids were emotionally disturbed and had behavioral problems, but for whatever reason, reading to them was kind of like a little magic,” Patt says. “They just were entranced, and I rediscovered all of my favorite childhood books. It kind of came to me and I said, ‘Maybe I can do this too.’”
Patt’s latest book was published in August by Owl Hollow Press, her first in 13 years. The publisher of her two previous books, Haven and Best Friends Forever, was acquired by Amazon.
On November 9, Patt visited The Book Stall in Winnetka to read from More Than A Thief—a young adult novel is based on the story of Lizzie Borden, who was famously found not guilty in 1892 of murdering her parents in Fall River, Massachusetts. The idea came to her sometime around 2010.
“I started thinking about the Salem witch trials but at the time there were a couple of big-name authors who came out with historical fiction about the trials, and I thought that would be dumb,” says Patt. “Lizzie Borden just came to mind. It was kind of like the Salem witch trials, the burning at the stake, all that spooky stuff.”
While technically categorized as young adult fiction because the main character is 16 years old, Patt says adults are enjoying it, too. She’s currently involved with four different adult women book clubs that are reading the book.
“It’s definitely a crossover,” she says.
Patt says The Book Stall has been supportive by hosting events for her previous books so when More Than A Thief was published in August, she reached out to the retailer’s Special Events Coordinator, Robert McDonald, who helped set up the reading. The Book Stall keeps an active calendar of special events to promote authors and also connect them with the North Shore community.
“We’re always hoping in some ways to connect readers with writers, and in a larger sense being a community resource,” McDonald says. “Patt’s been in the area for a long time and while we love to host the national touring authors, it’s important for us to have a home for us to recognize local authors and give them a platform to talk about their creations.”
The challenges with the pandemic and the disappearance of many retail book shops makes the in-person events with authors that much more special, McDonald says.
“It’s something we can offer that you can’t really get with an online experience. Certainly, during the pandemic people pivoted to Zoom,” he says. “I think actually being in the room as the author is speaking or as two authors are having a conversation is a vastly different experience than witnessing something on a screen.”
Upcoming events at The Book Stall include An Evening with Sara Hoagland Hunter, author of Stories from Home: Married Days, on November 25, and What Music!: Saturday Storytime with Laurie Lawler, author of What Music! The Fifty-Year Friendship between Beethoven and Nanette Striker Who Built His Pianos, on December 9.
“The events are really a way that we can distinguish ourselves from other book-selling platforms,” says McDonald. “We try to cast a wide not. Not just fiction authors but cookbook authors and lots of kids’ authors. We want to do programming for our existing customers but we’re always looking to expand our customer base as well.”
More Than A Thief is available at The Book Stall and at amazon.com and other online retailers. For information about events at The Book Stall, visit thebookstall.com.
