Historical fiction novelist Janis Cooke Newman will speak during the Mt. Diablo Branch luncheon on Saturday, January 13th at the Hungry Hunter Restaurant in Lafayette at 11:30 a.m. She will be joined by her editor, Kate Nitze of MacAdam/Cage. Janis Cooke Newman is the author of Mary: A Novel, the engrossing story of Mary Todd Lincoln, one of history’s most misunderstood and enigmatic women. She will share aspects of crafting historical fiction..
 
Janis Cooke Newman’s novel blends fact and fiction to paint an intimate portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln, from her tempestuous childhood through the opium-clouded years after her husband’s death. USA Today has said, “Mary is one of those rare books that turns the reader into an admiring fan of both the author and her subject...Newman gives Mary a riveting voice.”
 
Janis Cooke Newman is also the author of the memoir, The Russian Word for Snow, and her travel writing has appeared in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and Salon. She lives in Northern California, where she teaches writing classes at the renowned independent bookseller, Book Passage. Mary is her first novel.