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Amy Hill Hearth

Goodreads Author

Born

in Pittsfield, Mass., The United States

Website

http://www.amyhillhearth.com

Twitter

AmyHillHearth

Genre

Biography, Historical Fiction, Thriller

Member Since

January 2012

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"I'm a risk taker with my writing," Amy Hill Hearth (pronounced HARTH) says about her work. "I like to try new genres because I love to be challenged. Following my instincts without thinking of sales potential usually works out for me, anyway." Indeed, Amy's first book, which shocked the publishing world with its completely unexpected success, was the international bestselling oral history, HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS, a N.Y. Times bestseller for more than two years which was adapted for Broadway and film. That book is still going strong, with new audiobook and ebook editions published Jan. 3, 2023. Since the 1993 publication of HAVING OUR SAY, Amy has written ten more books and won many national awards, with genres ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Amy - we are discussing your Book "Miss Dreamsville...." this week in Naples - I saw you at Bagels & Books last year - just a reminder to me, did you say you based the book loosely on your mother-in-law and was she Dora or Jackie Hart? Thanks! cannot wait to read the sequel. Janet Weingarten & The Verona Walk Daytime Bookclub

Amy Hill Hearth Hi Janet, the character Jackie Hart was inspired by my late mother-in-law, who really did have a radio show on WNOG called "Miss Dreamsville" back in …moreHi Janet, the character Jackie Hart was inspired by my late mother-in-law, who really did have a radio show on WNOG called "Miss Dreamsville" back in the sixties. Please give my best wishes to your book club! - Amy(less)

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What inspired you to write "Silent Came the Monster"?

Amy Hill Hearth I live at the Jersey Shore where a series of shark attacks in the summer of 1916 shocked the nation. It was an especially big story because the Jersey…moreI live at the Jersey Shore where a series of shark attacks in the summer of 1916 shocked the nation. It was an especially big story because the Jersey Shore was the summer home of many wealthy and powerful Americans, including the President of the United States, a tradition that started many years earlier with Ulysses S. Grant. It was widely believed that dangerous, "man-eating" sharks didn't swim in the waters off New Jersey or New York at all. During the pandemic lockdown of 2020, the story of the shark (known here as "the real JAWS") popped into my mind. Just as with Covid, the human response to the "sea monster" (as many called the shark) was confusion as well as fear, denial, defiance, and even conspiracy theories. The story of the 1916 shark had never been told as a novel, and I decided to tell it as historical fiction from the perspective of those experiencing the events as they unfolded, and without any of the knowledge we now have of ocean creatures. There are several classic themes in the book, among them, that Nature plays by its own rules. The book is as much a study of human psychology as it is about the shark. (less)

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Amy Hill Hearth’s books

Average rating: 4.04 · 20,143 ratings · 1,801 reviews · 24 distinct works • Similar authors

	Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society 3.57 avg rating — 2,662 ratings — published 2012 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Silent Came the Monster: A Novel of the 1916 Jersey Shore Shark Attacks 3.74 avg rating — 1,266 ratings — published 2023 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County (Miss Dreamsville #2) 3.66 avg rating — 328 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Streetcar to Justice: How Elizabeth Jennings Won the Right to Ride in New York 3.95 avg rating — 124 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Strong Medicine Speaks: A Native American Elder Has Her Say 3.99 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 2008 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In a World Gone Mad: A Heroic Story of Love, Faith and Survival 4.10 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 2001 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Delany Sisters Reach High 3.94 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2003 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Readers Digest Select Editions Large Type Vol 5 2014 - Miss Dreamsville, The View from Here by Amy Hill Hearth (Goodreads Author), Cindy Myers 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Delany Sisters 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	[Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years] [By: Sarah L. Delany] [January, 1997] by Amy Hill Hearth (Goodreads Author), Sarah Delaney, Sarah Louise Delany 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Amy Hill Hearth…

163 posts
Amy Hill Hearth's Blog: Born to Write

'Sea Monster' Attacks of 1916 Sparked Confusion, Disbelief

When a rogue shark began attacking swimmers at the Jersey Shore in 1916, there was utter confusion about what, in fact, it was.

Many people simply called it, "the sea monster." Among the general public - and even among scientists - it was widely believed that dangerous, "man-eating" sharks didn't swim in the waters off New Jersey or New York at all.

Some people thought it might be a huge mackerel. Read more of this blog post »

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Published on April 17, 2023 09:52

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Series by Amy Hill Hearth

Miss Dreamsville (2 books)
by

Amy Hill Hearth (Goodreads Author)

3.58 avg rating — 2,990 ratings

Quotes by Amy Hill Hearth (?)

“Life is short, and it's up to you to make it sweet.

Sarah L. (Sadie) Delany”
― Amy Hill Hearth, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

tags: delany-sisters, having-our-say, life-is-short

17 likes

“There's an old Southern saying that if you're worried about your weight, clothes, or getting old, then you don't have any real problems.”
― Amy Hill Hearth

9 likes

“...Mama used to say that when you don't know what to do, do nothing. She meant you can try too hard to solve a problem. If you give it a little time, the answer might just come to you plain as day.”
― Amy Hill Hearth, Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society

4 likes

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Polls

Which work of fiction would you like to read with us during January 2022? Please vote here.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

40 votes, 28.4%

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

33 votes, 23.4%

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

23 votes, 16.3%

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

20 votes, 14.2%

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

15 votes, 10.6%

Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society by Amy Hill Hearth

10 votes, 7.1%

141 total votes

2 comments

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Amy’s Quotes

“Writers, naturally, dream of becoming authors. Authors dream of writing a bestseller. Bestselling authors want to write more bestsellers. And everyone hopes for big prizes. Why? Because we believe in magic." Publisher's Weekly magazine, Dec. 12, 2011”
― Amy Hill Hearth

tags: why-we-write

1 likes

“When people ask me how we've lived past one hundred, I say, 'Honey, we never married. We never had husbands to worry us to death!

A. Elizabeth (Bessie) Delany”
― Amy Hill Hearth, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

tags: amy-hill-hearth, delany-sisters, having-our-say, husbands

2 likes