Melanie Benjamin is the author of the
New York Times and
USA Today bestselling historical novels
The Swans of Fifth Avenue, about Truman Capote and his society
swans, and
The Aviator's Wife, a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Previous historical novels include the national bestseller
Alice I Have Been, about Alice Liddell, the inspiration for
Alice in Wonderland, and
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, the story of 32-inch-tall Lavinia Warren Stratton, a star during the Gilded Age.
Benjamin's new novel is
The Girls in the Picture.
Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:
I'm currently finishing up season 2 of The Crown on Netflix, indulging my passion for all things British. 
So I'm also reading some biographies of the royal family: Princess Margaret, a Biography, by Theo Aronson, and The Queen Mother by William Shawcross, which is quite extensive! If you want to know every detail of every meal she ate, this is the biography for you. There is some excellent info in the book but it is rather a slog. And keeping with this theme, I also, every year come Christmas, find myself turning to cozy British novels, usually set between the wars or immediately after WWII. And these year, I discovered a new author, Elizabeth Fair. Her books are reminiscent of Angela Thirkell, although sweeter - set in small English towns, immediately after the war. I very much enjoyed 
reading her books The Mingham Air, A Winter Away, and Bramtom Wick over the holidays.
Learn more about the book and author at
Melanie Benjamin's website.
The Page 69 Test: Alice I Have Been.
The Page 69 Test: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.
My Book, The Movie: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.
The Page 69 Test: The Aviator's Wife.
The Page 69 Test: The Swans of Fifth Avenue.
The Page 69 Test: The Girls in the Picture.
--Marshal Zeringue
swans, and The Aviator's Wife, a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Previous historical novels include the national bestseller Alice I Have Been, about Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, the story of 32-inch-tall Lavinia Warren Stratton, a star during the Gilded Age.
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