Almost Famous Women

From a prizewinning, beloved young author, a provocative collection that explores the lives of colorful, intrepid women in history. These stories linger in ones memory long after reading them (Star Tribune, Minneapolis).The fascinating characters in Megan Mayhew Bergmans collection of stories as beautiful and strange as the women who inspired them (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) are defined by their creative impulses, fierce independence, and sometimes reckless decisions. In The Siege at Whale Cay, cross-dressing Standard Oil heiress Joe Carstairs seduces Marlene Dietrich. In A High-Grade Bitch Sits Down for Lunch, aviator and writer Beryl Markham lives alone in Nairobi and engages in a battle of wills with a stallion. In Hell-Diving Women, the first integrated, all-girl swing band sparks a violent reaction in North Carolina. Other heroines, born in proximity to the spotlight, struggle to distinguish themselves: Lord Byrons illegitimate daughter, Allegra; Oscar Wildes wild niece, Dolly; Edna St. Vincent Millays talented sister, Norma; James Joyces daughter, Lucia. Almost Famous Women offers an elegant and intimate look at artists who desired recognition. By assiduously depicting their intimacy and power struggles, Bergman allows for a close examination of the multiplicity of womens experiences (The New York Times Book Review). The world wasnt always kind to the women who star in these stories, but through Mayhew Bergmans stunning imagination, they receive the attention they deserve. Almost Famous Women is addictive and tantalizing, each story whetting our appetite for more (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).