Vibrant, resilient, and magnificent in all their complexity, Dorothy Hale and Clare Boothe Luce define the modern woman of the 1920s—and the 2020s. It's been a great joy to honor their story.
NEW YORK (PRWEB) May 06, 2022
Lady Be Good by Pamela Hamilton has received the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Benjamin Franklin Award in the Historical Fiction category. The Benjamin Franklin Awards, one of the highest honors for independent publishers, are administered by the IBPA with help from over 160 book publishing professionals including librarians, bookstore owners, reviewers, and editors.
In her acceptance remarks, Hamilton said of her main characters, “Determined, dynamic, and resilient, Dorothy Hale and Clare Boothe Luce define the modern woman of the 1920s and the 2020s. It's been a great joy to honor their story and introduce them to a new generation.” In closing, she thanked the IBPA awards jury and her publisher, and she quoted Luce: “Male supremacy has kept woman down. It has not knocked her out.” The full text can be read here: https://pamelalhamilton.com/ibpa-benjamin-franklin-award/.
The award is the latest honor for Hamilton’s novel, which is based on the true story of Dorothy Hale, the legendary 1930s socialite immortalized in one of Frida Kahlo's most famous paintings, and famed playwright and Vogue and Vanity Fair editor Clare Boothe Luce. The two friends defy tradition to pursue their dreams on their own terms and find themselves at the center of political intrigue.
Released to critical acclaim on March 31, 2021, Lady Be Good received a Kirkus starred review and was selected as a Kirkus Best Indie Book of the Year as well as a Booklife by Publishers’ Weekly Editors Pick. In addition, it’s been honored with several book awards: winner of the 2021 National Indie Excellence Award in the Chick-Lit category; winner of the 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Award in the Fiction and Historical Fiction categories; National Indie Excellence Awards Silver Medal; Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards Silver Medal; American Fiction Awards Award-Winning Finalist; and IAN Book of the Year Award Finalist for Women’s Fiction.
Lady Be Good is now a finalist for the Mark Twain Book Award for Humor and Satire and the Somerset Book Award for Literary and Contemporary Fiction, and a semi-finalist for the Goethe Book Award for Historical Fiction. Winners will be announced in June.
Publishers Weekly Booklife praised the novel, writing: “Readers who love glamorous historical fiction will be mesmerized by the life of Dorothy Hale… a woman determined to make a name for herself in a world ruled by men and governed by money, power, and connections. The elegant timeframe and high fashion of the era, replete with jazz music and roaring parties that would be the envy of Gatsby’s crowd.”
Pamela Hamilton is a writer and consultant who has worked with notable figures in business, US intelligence, music, and the arts, and has covered some of the most significant events of the twenty-first century. For more than a decade she was a producer for NBC News, and she was a producer on the award-winning documentary Grateful Dawg. Based in Manhattan, she serves on the board of the Society of Professional Journalists' Deadline Club. Visit PamelaLHamilton.com.
For more information, or to request a review copy of Lady Be Good, contact John Ekizian at the J.G. Ekizian Agency, johngekizian@gmail.com.