Bøker av Patty Dann

The author of Mermaids reunites the unforgettable women of the Flax family decades later: "Its plot twists will make you laugh--after you wipe away tears." --Sally Koslow, author of The Real Mrs. Tobias Now in her early forties with a grown son and two grandchildren, Charlotte Flax has never forgotten the year she spent as a teenager in Grove, Massachusetts, with her mother and little sister. When she finds out that their old house there, one of the many the family occupied over the years, is available for rent, Charlotte moves in and plans a birthday party for her flighty-as-ever mother. Some things have changed--the nearby convent has given way to real estate interests. Some things have not--Charlotte still has feelings about Joe, her first love. This upcoming reunion will stir up a lot of memories--and some trouble--and test the ability of relationships to survive over time . . . "Patty Dann, through Charlotte's unique voice, propels us back into the careening lives of the Flax women. Funny, sad, chaotic, mysterious, moving, searching, they are above all a family." --Richard Benjamin, director of Mermaids Praise for Mermaids and the novels of Patty Dann "Dann gives us a magnificent voice in the young Charlotte . . . Both hilarious and tragic . . . a radiant debut." --The New York Times Book Review "A marvel . . . brilliant." --Elinor Lipman, author of Good Riddance "Poignant." --Sheila Kohler, author of Once We Were Sisters and Cracks "Both of [the sisters'] characters are sharply etched and recognizable." --Publishers Weekly

An epistolary novel of historical fiction that imagines the life of Katharine Wright and her relationship with her famous brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright.On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the world’s first airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, establishing the Wright Brothers as world-renowned pioneers of flight. Known to far fewer people was their whip-smart and well-educated sister Katharine, a suffragette and early feminist.After Wilbur passed away, Katharine lived with and took care of her increasingly reclusive brother Orville, who often turned to his more confident and supportive sister to help him through fame and fortune. But when Katharine became engaged to their mutual friend, Harry Haskell, Orville felt abandoned and betrayed. He smashed a pitcher of flowers against a wall and refused to attend the wedding or speak to Katharine or Harry. As the years went on, the siblings grew further and further apart. In The Wright Sister, Patty Dann wonderfully imagines the blossoming of Katharine, revealed in her “Marriage Diary”—in which she emerges as a frank, vibrant, intellectually and socially engaged, sexually active woman coming into her own—and her one-sided correspondence with her estranged brother as she hopes to repair their fractured relationship. Even though she pictures “Orv” throwing her letters away, Katharine cannot contain her joie de vivre, her love of married life, her strong advocacy of the suffragette cause, or her abiding affection for her stubborn sibling as she fondly recalls their shared life.An inspiring and poignant chronicle of feminism, family, and forgiveness, The Wright Sister is an unforgettable portrait of a woman, a sister of inventors, who found a way to reinvent herself.

Discover the power and pleasure of writing from your life.  We all have stories to tell, and Patty Dann can help you bring them forth. Sometimes all it takes is a single word to spark a strong memory. Bicycle. Snowstorm. Washing machine. By presenting one-word prompts and simple phrases, author and writing teacher Patty Dann gives us the keys to unlock our life stories. Organized around her ten rules for writing memoir, Dann’s lyrical vignettes offer glimpses into her own life while, surprisingly, opening us up to our own. This book is a small but powerful guide and companion for anyone wanting to get their own story on the page.