La Porte County Public Library hosts An Evening with Marie Benedict to draw readers together for a night of history and storytelling

On Thursday, April 30, the La Porte County Public Library hosted one of its most anticipated events of the year, as they welcomed bestselling author Marie Benedict for an engaging evening of literary discussion and community connection. Held at The Great Hall Events & Conference Center on the Purdue University Northwest (PNW) Westville campus, the event brought together readers, writers, and history enthusiasts throughout Northwest Indiana.

The doors opened for the event at 5 p.m., and the main program kicked off at 6 p.m. Benedict had a conversation with the audience about her writing process and the inspiration behind her works, including her latest novel, Daughter of Egypt. This is a historic novel that tells the dual story of Lady Evelyn Herbert in the 1920s and the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut.

“It’s very exciting, because people who create are, to me, inspirational. And so, I mean, you can see there’s not a lot of seats left in here, right? It brings people together, which is also very exciting. And I think that’s part of what we should do as the library in the community, and it reinforces how important reading is in a community, even for adults, we should not forget as adults that reading is important,” said Chief Executive Officer for LaPorte County Public Library Fonda Owens.

Following the presentation, guests were able to participate in a moderated Q&A session, where Benedict answered questions about her career and the themes that drive her storytelling. The evening continued with a book signing at 7 p.m., giving attendees the opportunity to meet the author and have their copies personally signed.

“I have to say that this book and the women in this book are much longer in the making than any other book, in some ways, longer, certainly than my mission ever was formed. And actually, the seed for this book was planted when I was a young girl dazzled by Ancient Egypt,” said Benedict.

Benedict has authored several famous books such as Carnegie’s Maid, The Other Einstein, and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie. She is primarily a historical fiction author, who focuses on seeking out the hidden or overlooked stories of influential women throughout history.

“I find these women everywhere. I find them while I’m researching other women, like I found Sophia Zakuhl, right? I didn’t set out to find her. I came across her because when you’re researching one fabulous historical woman, she’s usually working in connection with other fabulous historical women. I find them in newspaper articles. I find them in historical texts. I find them in places where you would expect to find a woman that none has mentioned, and then I go see if I can find her,” said Benedict. “I also want a woman who is, and I think I mentioned this earlier, is really dealing with issues that are both historic and modern. I want her to be grappling with something that we can relate to right, so that her story really fuels us and beats us.”

The event was put on through a partnership with The Press Bookstore, which provided on-site book sales and allowed attendees to purchase Benedict’s works.

Through the support of the Health Foundation of La Porte and the Friends of the La Porte County Library, this free event was made possible. These contributions help to ensure that programs like this remain accessible to the public.

“For tonight’s event, we’re lucky enough to receive a literacy outreach grant from the Health Foundation of La Porte. And so because, again, reading and literacy is very important to a healthy mind and healthy community. And as you can see, it brings people together and combats loneliness. It makes people feel like they’re part of something. And so they are our primary sponsor for tonight. And then we have friends of the library, which is a 501 c3 connected with the library that’s also sponsoring a portion of the event for us tonight too. So again, it’s really wonderful that we have that kind of support for these events,” said Owens

An Evening with Marie Benedict highlighted the La Porte County Public Library’s commitment to fostering a love of reading and lifelong learning. Community members not only had the chance to hear from a celebrated author, but also to connect with one another through a shared appreciation of literature and history.

To learn more about upcoming events, support future programming, or explore resources offered by the library, visit laportelibrary.org.