Events benefiting Collier County Public Libraries
Wealth, jewels, and lavish mansions on Miami’s Biscayne Bay, coupled with adultery, betrayal, and murder. These ingredients cook up a compelling gothic mystery in the hands of best-selling novelist Chanel Cleeton, who kicks off the 2024-25 Author Spotlight Events in Naples on Thursday, November 7.
Tickets are on sale for Cleeton’s talk and book signing, sponsored by Friends of the Library of Collier County, which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Collier’s public libraries.
On April 3, another book club favorite — historical novelist Stephanie Dray — closes out the Author Spotlight Events. Her book Becoming Madam Secretary explores the life of Frances Perkins, who was FDR’s Secretary of Labor and the architect of Social Security during the Great Depression.
The casual lectures begin at 2 p.m. at The Norris Center, the former longtime home of the Gulfshore Playhouse, located south of Cambier Park near downtown Naples. Each talk is followed by a book signing. (See info box for details on dates, times, and cost.)
November 7 speaker Chanel Cleeton was born in Florida into a family that had fled Cuba in the mid-1960s. Hearing her relatives’ stories of life on the island inspired her best-selling novels such as Next Year in Havana, When We Left Cuba, and The Last Train to Key West.
“While none of my books are necessarily autobiographical,” Cleeton said in an interview, “I am often drawn to exploring parts of my identity in my writing,” such as the lives of Cuban exiles and their children in the United States, and the experiences of Cuban Americans who venture back to Cuba.
Her latest, The House on Biscayne Bay, is her first gothic mystery, while also retaining the Cuban connection. In a dual timeline of 1918 and 1941, her characters are transplants from New York City and Havana to the steamy boomtown of Miami, where everyone’s trying to make a buck — and keep it — sometimes with fatal consequences.
“I’ve always been a big fan of gothic novels,” Cleeton said. “I had so much fun writing The House on Biscayne Bay and really enjoyed the opportunity to marry the elements I’ve come to relish developing in my novels with a new genre.”
Stephanie Dray, who will talk on April 3 about Becoming Madam Secretary, takes a biographical approach to Frances Perkins, our Secretary of Labor from 1933-45. Dray has said she considers Perkins the most powerful woman in American history.
As the first female appointee to a president’s cabinet, Perkins was the architect — with the full backing of President Franklin D. Roosevelt — of such ground-breaking ideas as Social Security, unemployment insurance, the end to child labor, workplace fire safety laws, and the 40-hour workweek.
Perkins faced down sexism throughout her career and was accused of being a Communist because she favored workers’ rights. Dray’s novel interlaces the historical record with some creative license, detailing Perkins’ personal challenges, as she cared for a husband and daughter who both battled mental illness.
“I’ve been a storyteller since I was a kid, (and) I was an eager listener, too,” Dray has said. “I was always asking my grandfathers — both of whom enlisted right after Pearl Harbor — to tell me their stories. They always talked about how grateful they were for the opportunities that even a flawed America afforded them. I aim to highlight untold stories, particularly those of women.”
The Author Spotlight Events at The Norris Center are designed as a chance to spend the day in Naples’ Fifth Avenue South district, enjoying lunch and shopping before and after the talk.
The series sponsor is Kelly E. Capolino of Downing-Frye Realty.
Friends of the Library’s Author Spotlight Events
What: Author lectures that are a fundraiser by the Friends of the Library of Collier County
Where: The Norris Center, 755 Eighth Avenue South, Naples
When: Chanel Cleeton, Thursday, November 7, at 2 p.m., followed by a book signing
Stephanie Dray, Thursday, April 3, at 2 p.m., followed by a book signing
Cost: $49 for each lecture for current members of the Friends of the Library of Collier County; $59 for nonmembers. All seating is general admission. Friends memberships begin at $40/year and provide access and discounts to many other programs.
Purchase tickets and become a member: Go to collier-friends.org.
Questions: Email Marlene Haywood, the Friends’ Program Director, at mhaywood@collier-friends.org or call 239.262.8135.
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