Natalie Dykstra Discusses Her New Book, Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life

On Thursday evening, January 24 at 7:00 p.m. Cary Memorial Library will host historian, Natalie Dykstra.  Professor Dykstra will discuss her new book, Clover Adams, A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life, the true story of one of the most fascinating women of the Gilded Age. 

Marian Hooper “Clover” Adams was married to the Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Henry Adams, and together they reigned at the epicenter of Washington society in the late 1880's. Clover was inquisitive, fiercely intelligent, and was both a brilliant Washington hostess and an accomplished photographer. Clover clearly possessed, as one friend wrote, "all she wanted, all this world could give."

Yet at the center of this story is a haunting mystery: Why did Clover, having embarked on an exhilarating self-taught course of photography in the spring of 1883, take her own life less than three years later? The answer is unknown, but there are clues to the mystery of her bright life and shadowy death in the compelling and haunting photographs she took of a now vanished world.

The Boston Globe has called this book a "a beautifully written and immensely satisfying new biography.” This program is for anyone interested in history, photography, or women's studies...and for everyone interested in exploring the deep human need for self expression, meaning and connection.

All library programs are free; registration is not required.  Space is limited.  Seating will be on a first come, first serve basis.   For more information, please call Cary Memorial Library at 781-862-6288 ext 250 or go to www.carylibrary.org