Nina de Gramont on Reese’s Book Club, Ann Patchett and Her New Gilded Age Novel (Exclusive)
The author of ‘The Christie Affair’ opens up about her new novel, women's rights and the secrets behind her writing process
Key Takeaways
- Nina de Gramont's new historical novel, ‘Peregrine Hill,’ takes place during the Gilded Age.
- The author says writing historical fiction means remembering how recently women gained their ri
- The author of ‘The Christie Affair’ reveals why she prefers to let her stories surprise her.
In 2022, Nina de Gramont released The Christie Affair, a riveting fictional retelling of Agatha Christie’s 11-day disappearance in 1926. The novel was chosen as a Reese’s Book Club pick, which helped de Gramont quickly establish what she calls a “built-in readership.” Now, four years later, she’s back with a new book, Peregrine Hill, set at the dawn of the 20th century. Filled with scandals, secrets and the fight for freedom in the Gilded Age, the plot follows a widow, Isabelle Bishop, and her daughter, Mariah, after Mariah is forced to marry a wealthy older man named John Whitten. Here, de Gramont talks exclusively to WW ahead of the book’s release!
Woman’s World (WW): Tell us about ‘Peregrine Hill.’ What do you hope readers take away from it?
Nina de Gramont (NG): “To me, the important thing about writing historical fiction that touches on the strife women have gone through is remembering how recent these struggles were. We’re just a couple of generations removed. We’re talking about thousands and thousands of years of struggle versus just the past 120 years. I think it’s key to consider where we’ve come from—and how easy it would be to go back.”
WW: Your mom worked at ‘Woman’s World’ many years ago! Can you tell us a little about that?
NG: “She edited this column called Precious Moments. She would do it mostly from home, just sitting in her office, surrounded by letters. I remember that they never wanted to reject the precious moments, because people were sending in their most precious memories. So the rejection was always something like, ‘We love your precious moment. We’re going to save it for a later date.’ She was always getting messages like, ‘Hey, any news on when my precious moment will be published?’ From all of that, I learned that the rejection process is not so easy, but if you stop to think about it, it is pretty informative.”
WW: Walk us through a writing day for you. Are you a plotter or do you let the story surprise you?
NG: “The latter. There’s a great Robert Frost quote: ‘No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.’ And I like to surprise myself as I go. I write the story first, then go back and add the history or correct it. It’s trial and error, and I find myself correcting things until the last moment. There are so many details and the most dangerous ones you think you know, so you don’t double-check them.”
WW: How do you approach research for a new novel? Where do you even start?
NG: “It is such a long and grueling process. I tend to write the story first and then go back and add the history or correct it. It’s so trial and error, and I find myself correcting things until the very last moment. We had a cold reader for Peregrine Hill, and she caught a really big mistake—it was actually a contemporary error in a main scene, caught at the eleventh hour. It’s really hard. There are so many little details, and the most dangerous ones are the things you think you already know, so you don’t double-check them.”
WW: Obviously, we have to talk about you being a Reese’s Book Club Pick in 2022 What was that like and how did you find out?
NG: “It was amazing! It was really thrilling. I’ve been trying to remember recently how soon before the book release they told me. I think it was at least two months. But they told me, and I couldn’t tell anybody. So it was exciting, and then it was also hard having this secret that I couldn’t let anyone know. Knowing it was going to have this big splash and built-in readership on the day of the release.”
WW: Finally, we have to know what books are you reading right now and loving?
NG: “I just finished a graphic memoir called Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls that I really loved, and I learned a ton from it about the history of China and communism in China. I love Ann Patchett’s Whistler. My husband and I drive west every summer, and we always listen to an Ann Patchett novel and that was the one this year. It was really fun, and I thought it was just a beautiful book.”
Be sure to pick up a copy of Nina de Gramont’s newest book Peregrine Hill on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
A version of this article appeared in the November 23, 2026 print issue of Woman’s World.
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