For Book Clubs

It's always an honor and a delight when a book club selects one of my works for reading and discussion. Some book clubs want to bring in the author; I'm delighted to chat with book clubs anywhere in English or en español by previous appointment via telephone or Skype.

If your book club has access to a speaker phone or Skype, simply send me an email with your request. Please be sure to tell me about your book group and any questions you might have.

Where to find my books?
My books are all in-print and available in paperback editions and most are also available in Kindle and other electronic formats. If you do not find the book on the shelf, your bookstore can order it for you.

You can find all available editions and ordering options in my website's bookshop.



Some fun things for book groups:

Reading Mexico: Recommendations for a Book Club of Extra-Curious & Adventurous English-Language Readers


Download the Reading Group Guide
For The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire
From the publisher, Unbridled Books. Includes background and discussion about the book, as well as an author interview and suggested reading list.

Haunted Historical Fiction:
The Curious Coincidences Concerning Senator Claiborne Pell's Mansion
How thin is the veil between our world and the next? I have no doubt that sometimes, if only for a whisper of a moment, it lifts enough that we can hear, smell, glimpse, even touch those on the other side. . . READ MORE Or... listen to the podcast.

The Top 5 of the Tussie-Mussie
A "tussie-mussie" is a bouquet of flowers and herbs (and just the thing for a Washington DC belle to press to her nose as she walks through the markets of 19th century Mexico City…) READ MORE

What Connects You to the 1860s?
My novel is based on the true, strange, and heart-breaking story of, as the title says, “The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire.” If you’ve never heard of Mexico’s little half-American prince, not to worry: even many beautifully educated Mexicans have not. Mexico’s 19th-century history is, to make an understatement, labyrinthically labyrinthical. (I like to say, if you’ve heard of Santa Anna and you know that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day, you’re doing OK.) . . . READ MORE

A Book Group Meeting Menu
Apart from controversy, there's nothing better than some yummy cake and jolt of coffee to get a book group going. For The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, my novel based on the true story of 19th century Mexico, I beg you, skip those gloppy nachos and so very twentieth-century-American-tourist "margaritas"; they would not only put everyone to sleep, but they would be no more appropriate than, say, hamburgers and Pepsi for Gone with the Wind. May I suggest some café de olla and Mrs. Yorke's raisin cakes? Recipes follow. Who is Mrs. Yorke, and what is she doing in a novel about Mexico? . . . READ MORE..