Author Event: Allison Pataki With Lee Woodruff, "Finding Margaret Fuller"

Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore welcome acclaimed author, Allison Pataki, to discuss her new book, Finding Margaret Fuller. Allison, in conversation with author Lee Woodruff, will discuss her latest book, published in March 2024.  

The book is an epic reimagining of the life of Margaret Fuller – America’s forgotten leading lady and the central figure of a movement that defined a nation.  

Massachusetts, 1836. Young, brazen, beautiful, and unapologetically brilliant, Margaret Fuller accepts an invitation from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the celebrated “Sage of Concord,” to meet his coterie of enlightened friends shaping a nation in the throes of its own self-discovery. By the end of her stay, she will become “the radiant genius and fiery heart” of the Transcendentalists, a role model to young Louisa May Alcott, an inspiration to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s character of Hester Prynne and the scandalous Scarlet Letter, a friend to Henry David Thoreau as he ventures into the woods of Walden Pond . . . and a muse to Emerson himself.

But Margaret craves more than poetry and interpersonal drama, and she finds her restless soul in need of new challenges and adventure. With a star-studded cast and epic sweep of historical events, this is a story of an inspiring trailblazer, a woman who loved big and lived even bigger—a fierce adventurer who transcended the rigid roles ascribed to women, and changed history for millions, all on her own terms.

About Allison Pataki

Allison Pataki is the New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, The Queen's Fortune, The Traitor's Wife, The Accidental Empress, Sisi: Empress on her Own, Where the Light Falls, as well as the nonfiction memoir, Beauty in the Broken Places. She has also written two children’s books, Nelly Takes New York, and Poppy takes Paris. Allison’s novels have been translated into twenty languages.

A former news writer and producer, Allison has written for The New York Times, ABC News, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Fox News, and other outlets. She has appeared on The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Good Day New York, Good Day Chicago, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Allison graduated Cum Laude from Yale University with a major in English and spent several years in journalism before switching to fiction writing. A member of The Historical Novel Society, Allison lives in New York with her husband and family.

About Lee Woodruff

Lee Woodruff, as co-author of the bestselling In an Instant garnered critical acclaim for the compelling and humorous chronicle of her family’s journey to recovery following her husband Bob’s roadside bomb injury in Iraq. Appearing together on national media since the February 2007 publication of their book, the couple founded the Bob Woodruff Foundation to assist wounded service members and their families. To date, they have raised more than $95 million to help veterans successfully reintegrate into their communities and receive care. 

Woodruff has been a contributing reporter for  “CBS This Morning” and “Good Morning America.” Her bestselling book Perfectly Imperfect – A Life in Progress, was followed by her first novel Those We Love Most.  A freelance writer and print journalist, Woodruff has penned numerous articles, including features and essays about her family, parenting, and caregiving.  She currently runs a media/speaker training business.