Denise Kiernan, Obstinate Daughters with Rainy Day Books & APS

This event takes place in Unity Hall (downstairs at Unity Temple) and includes an author talk, along with an opportunity to get your book signed and personalized.

This event is made possible through our partners at American Public Square.

American Public Square builds stronger, more connected communities through civil discourse, engagement, and education. Through its in-person and virtual programming, APS offers fact-based insights and exposure to diverse and divergent perspectives - key steps toward mutual respect, compromise, and resolution. APS has been expanding and working toward its mission in Kansas City since its launch in October 2014.

Learn more about APS and become a member here!

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls of Atomic City and The Last Castle comes a sweeping chronicle challenging the traditional mythology of the nation’s beginnings and championing the unsung women behind the American Revolution.

History has always celebrated the “Founding Fathers“—the sly but victorious tactics of Washington, the daring exploits of Lafayette, the grand ideas of Jefferson. Yet we rarely hear of the women who kept the colonies running and liberty alive. Obstinate Daughters finally rewrites the story of America’s birth by revealing the courageous, resourceful women whose actions shaped a nation. From the battlefields to the printing press, from the plantations to the pulpit, these women fought, spied, published, preached, farmed, organized. From the front lines to the home front, from the colonies to the frontier, these unsung heroines turned the tide.

In Obstinate Daughters, readers will meet women who armed themselves and took matters into their own hands to defend their town. A Cherokee leader who warned patriot settlements of looming attacks, risking the lives of her own people in the process. A British spy at the center of a plot to assassinate George Washington. Enslaved women who risked their lives while fighting a parallel battle for their own freedom, embodying the very ideals the revolution claimed to uphold. The only woman to have her name on the Declaration of Independence. And many more.

As she has done so many times before, Kiernan masterfully weaves these individual stories together into a single, compelling narrative and carves a place in history for these impactful females. With journalistic rigor and narrative flair, Kiernan reminds us that the past is always open to challenge, and that every untold story can inspire a new generation.

Denise Kiernan is an author, journalist and producer who has worked as a writer for more than 20 years. Her last two books—The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City—were both instant New York Times bestsellers in both hardcover and paperback. The Last Castle was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, a finalist for the 2018 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. The Girls of Atomic City was a Los Angeles Times and NPR bestseller, named one of Amazon’s “Top 100 Best Books of 2013,” and has been published in multiple languages. Kiernan has been a featured guest on many radio and television shows, including NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” PBS NewsHour, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Please Note: There are no refunds for this event. If you are unable to attend, your book will be available for pickup at Rainy Day Books starting the following day. If you are not local, we'll be happy to mail it to you upon request. Thank you for your support!

We will hold your event book in-store for a maximum of 6 months following the event. If you have not retrieved your book in that time period, it will be donated.

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