Darien Library Announces its Spring Book Discussion Series

The Spring Book Discussion Series, “Extraordinary Lives, Extraordinary Times,” will begin at Darien Library on Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The series will consist of three critically-acclaimed books about those who have experienced the improbable, endured the unimaginable, and compelled us with their epic stories of cunning, tenacity, and hope. Library staff members will lead the discussions.

The first discussion book of the series is Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff.

Her life spanned fewer than 40 years, but Cleopatra was the last Egyptian pharaoh and one of the most influential women of the age. She married twice, each time to a brother; she poisoned one and waged a war against the other. To this day, the life of Cleopatra VII (69-30 B.C.) intrigues us. This adept biography by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff tells us why it should. It’s the true story of the woman behind the myth.

“It’s as though Cleopatra lives and breathes once again in the pages of Stacy Schiff’s exquisitely researched and well-written ‘Cleopatra: A Life.’ The book injects the Egyptian queen with a complexity and humanity that has long since been forgotten....[it] glows with details.” – Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Associated Press

“[Cleopatra’s] first biographers never met her, and she deliberately hid her real self behind vulgar display. A cautious writer would never consider her as a subject. Stacy Schiff, however, has risen to the bait, with deserved confidence ....Schiff’s rendering of [Alexandria] is so juicy and cinematic it leaves one with the sense of having visited a hopped-up ancient Las Vegas, with a busy harbor and a really good library....It’s dizzying to contemplate the thicket of prejudices, personalities and propaganda Schiff penetrated to reconstruct a woman whose style, ambition and audacity make her a subject worthy of her latest biographer. After all, Stacy Schiff’s writing is distinguished by those very same virtues.” – Kathryn Harrison, The New York Times Book Review

The Library’s Spring Book Discussion Series will continue with The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer on Tuesday, April 5 at 7 p.m., and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand on Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m.

The Library has copies of the books available for patrons to borrow, but prior reading of the books is not necessary to attend the discussions.

The Book Discussion Series is funded solely by contributions made to the Annual Campaign, and is co-sponsored by the Darien Community Association Book Group.

Darien Library is located at 1441 Post Road, Darien, Conn 06820. For more information, call 203-655-1234 or visit darienlibrary.org. 

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s)

(Image attached: Cover of “Cleopatra: A Life.”)