Jessica Francis Kane's FONSECA

In 1952, English writer Penelope Fitzgerald and her young son Valpy, embarked on a real, yet scarcely documented trip from England to Mexico with the hopes of claiming a much-needed inheritance.

In FONSECA, bestselling author Jessica Francis Kane (whose work “could have been written by Jane Austen’s great-great-great-granddaughter” —Oprah Daily) fictionalizes this trip, painting a vivid and unforgettable portrait of their journey. A long-time admirer of Fitzgerald’s work, Kane crafted this novel through five years of research and correspondence with Fitzgerald’s children, whose fascinating letters to Kane are woven throughout the book.

With two young children and another on the way, Penelope Fitzgerald and her husband Desmond were keenly aware of their worsening financial situation. Their literary journal has not brought in the money they hoped it would, and Desmond’s struggle with alcoholism is straining both their bank account and marriage. When Penelope begins receiving letters from two women in Fonseca, Mexico claiming to be family friends in search of an heir to inherit the Delaney fortune, she seizes the opportunity to change her family’s fortune and accepts their invitation for her and her charming son Valpy to visit. In Fonseca, Kane immerses readers in the Mirando, the grand home of the Delaney sisters, which is filled with a captivating cast of characters, all of varying backgrounds, with wildly different motives for the money, and claiming relation to the Delaneys—including some real life people Fitzgerald crossed paths with including Edward Hopper. As Penelope navigates the vibrant, chaotic, mysterious lives of the Delaney sisters and the Mirando, she not only starts to unravel the mystery of the Delaney fortune but also learns invaluable lessons about motherhood, love, and the often-sidelined desires and ambitions of women.

FONSECA is a brilliant, witty, heartwarming novel that is both a sincere homage to Penelope Fitzgerald’s legacy and an enchanting world of its own. In the vein of Colm Tóibín’s The Magician and Lily King’s Euphoria, Kane has melded the richness of historical archives with the craft of a brilliant novelist.

Monday, August 18 at 7:00 PM (doors 6:30 PM), approximately 60-minutes, plus a Q&A and signing.

$7 for Mechanics' Hall Members, $10 for General Admission, no one turned away for lack of funds at the door.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Francis Kane is the author of the national bestseller Rules for Visiting, This Close, The Report, and Bending Heaven. This Close was longlisted for The Story Prize, The Report was a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and Rules for Visiting was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared in many publications, including Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, Slate, Virginia Quarterly Review, McSweeney’s, ZYZZYVA, and Granta. She lives in New York City and Connecticut.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Liz Iversen’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Creative Nonfiction, Passages North, Fourteen Hills, and elsewhere. An Aspen Summer Words Emerging Writer Fellow, Tin House Scholar, and Ashley Bryan Fellow with the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, she lives with her husband and children in Portland, Maine, where she is at work on a novel.

PARKING & TRANSPORTATION

The Greater Portland Metro’s Congress & Casco Street Stop is directly in front of our building, served by routes 1, 7, 8, and 9B.

Parking is available at the Arts District Garage, which has entrances on Casco and Brown Street, with a rate of $5 per hour. Metered street parking is available on Congress, Casco, Cumberland, Free Street, and other nearby streets. Free hourly street parking is available between Parris and Alder Street.

ACCESSIBILITY

To enter our building, patrons will need to navigate a single step. There is a wheelchair-accessible elevator and a ramp available upon request.

If you need accessibility accommodations/questions please contact us at or 207-773-8396.

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Hall (Maine)