Valerie Martin

"A captivating, atmospheric return to historical fiction that is every bit as convincing and engrossing as Martin's landmark Mary Reilly. In 1872 the American merchant vessel Mary Celeste was discovered adrift off the coast of Spain. Her cargo was intactand there was no sign of struggle, but the crew was gone. They were never found. This maritime mystery lies at the center of an intricate narrative branching through the highest levels of late- nineteenth-century...

Tuckered out from a journey across the Wild West, cat brothers Anton and Cecil are ready to head east for home-until a minor stop to change trains in Chicago turns into a major escapade. The brothers are recruited by a police bloodhound to help solve a case: puppies are disappearing right off their leashes! Anton and Cecil's search takes them deep into the heart of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, where they befriend exotic animals, ride the newly invented...

When cat brothers Anton and Cecil receive a message of distress from Hieronymus, they set out to rescue their rodent friend, catching a train going West--and on the way they will encounter huge bison, chattering prairie dogs, hungry coyotes, and the most dangerous creature of all, a boy who wants to make Cecil his pet.

Claire Messud joins Valerie Martin to discuss her book, The Emperor's Children. Hope Davis reads an excerpt from the book.