Whitelam Books to Host Authors Jane Ward & Nancy Bernhard
Reading, MA – Whitelam Books is thrilled to welcome author Jane Ward in conversation with author Nancy Bernhard on Wednesday, February 11, at 6:00pm. Jane will be reading from her new book, Should Have Told You Sooner, while Nancy will share her book, The Double Standard Sporting House, at the event. Whitelam Books is located in downtown Reading at 610 Main Street, near the intersection of Haven Street and Main Street.
This event is free and open to the public – all are welcome!
About the Event:
Join us for a special double-author event as we host a book launch for Jane Ward (Should Have Told You Sooner) in conversation with Nancy Bernhard (The Double Standard Sporting House).
Should Have Told You Sooner:
While studying art history at a London university, Noel Enfield falls passionately in love with aspiring artist and art school student Bryn Jones. Shortly after Bryn leaves for a five-month painting trip through Italy, Noel discovers she is pregnant. She is ecstatic and believes Bryn will be too—they have plans to marry, after all. But mishaps part the two lovers, and a desperate Noel makes a split-second choice to move forward in a way that will change not only her life but also the lives of everyone she loves.
Three decades later, when she is offered a six-month secondment to a London museum, Noel decides it’s time to prove she really has moved on from that difficult period by returning to the city where she met and lost Bryn. But rather than proving she has persevered, the move lands Noel in the thick of London’s insular art world, with only one or two degrees of separation from her past and the people she once loved. After she reconnects with an old, dear friend and learns finally what kept Bryn from returning to her all those years ago, the very underpinnings of her life are rocked to their core. Some decisions made in the past can never be put behind her, she realizes, and armed with this new understanding, she sets out on a journey to reclaim what—and who—she left behind.
The Double Standard Sporting House:
A high-class brothel that entertains New York’s most powerful men, the Double Standard Sporting House funds a free clinic for women. When the Tammany Hall criminal syndicate takes over the city in 1868 and starts kidnapping girls, the house’s owner, Nell “Doc” Hastings, cannot stay quiet—especially after sixteen-year-old Vivie arrives at the clinic bruised and bleeding.
Resolving to seek justice for Vivie and girls like her, Doc builds an unlikely alliance with religious reformers, a rare honest ward cop, and an alluring newspaper publisher she can’t seem to keep away from. Even with their help, Doc will have to use her sharpest tools—secrets, guile, and a surgical blade—to prevent a dark turn in the sex trade.