Book Launch with Diane Hanks (The Woman with a Purple Heart) in conversation with William Martin

REGISTER HERE.

Join Titcomb’s Bookshop as we welcome author Diane Hanks to celebrate the publication of her new book The Woman with a Purple Heart (on sale November 7th) at Titcomb’s Bookshop on Tuesday November 7th at 6:00pm. Hanks will be in conversation with author William Martin (December ’41).

This is a free event, but registration is required and space is limited. Registration can be completed HERE or by calling the store at 508-888-2331.

Books will be for sale at the event and the author will be signing books after the conversation. If you are unable to join us in person, you can order a book to be signed by the author by ordering on Titcomb’s Bookshop’s website or by calling us at the shop at 508-888-2331.

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Historical fiction at its finest!” —Amanda Skenandore, author of The Second Life of Mirielle West and The Nurse’s Secret

Based on the real life of Lieutenant Annie Fox, Chief Nurse of Hickam Hospital, The Woman with a Purple Heart is an inspiring WWII novel of heroic leadership, courage, and friendship that also exposes a shocking and shameful side of history.

Annie Fox will stop at nothing to serve her country. But what happens when her country fails her?

In November 1941, Annie Fox, an Army nurse, is transferred to Hickam Field, an air force base in Honolulu. The others on her transport plane are thrilled to work in paradise, but Annie sees her new duty station as the Army’s way of holding the door open to her retirement. But serving her country is her calling and she will go wherever she is told.

On December 7, Annie’s on her way to work when the first Japanese Zero fighter plane flies low over Hickam’s Parade Ground. The death and destruction that follow leave her no time to process what’s happening. She rallies her nurses, and they work to save as many lives as they can. But soon their small hospital is overwhelmed. Annie drives into Honolulu to gather supplies, nurses, and several women who will donate blood. However, the nurses are Japanese Americans, and the blood donors are prostitutes.

Under Annie’s leadership and working together in unexpected ways, they make it through that horrific day, when one of the Japanese American nurses and Annie’s friend, Kay, is arrested as a suspected subversive. As Hickam tries to recover, Annie works to find her friend and return Kay to her family. But Annie’s love for her country is put to the test. How can she reconcile the American bravery and resilience she saw on December 7 with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses just a few months later?

Praise for The Woman with a Purple Heart:

“Vividly portrays a little-known story in a well-known time on a day that will live in infamy. A stirring read!” —Erika Robuck, national bestselling author of The Invisible Woman

“A wonderful tribute to a true American hero.” —Sara Ackerman, USA Today bestselling author of Radar Girls and The Codebreaker’s Secret

“Fast-paced and immersive. This is the kind of story that sticks with you long after turning the final page.” —Elise Hooper, author of Angels of the Pacific

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DIANE HANKS has a BFA and MA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston, MA. She first saw the name Annie Fox in relation to her job as a medical writer. Diane was writing about VA’s Annie app–used to send text messages to veterans about self-care–and discovered that it was named after Lt. Annie Fox. It seemed a shame that she’d never heard about the first woman to earn a Purple Heart, so Diane did some research, inspiring her to write this story.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

WILLIAM MARTIN is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, an award-winning PBS documentary on the life of George Washington, and a cult-classic horror film, too. In novels like Back Bay, City of Dreams, The Lost Constitution, The Lincoln Letter, and Bound for Gold, he has told stories of the great and the anonymous of American history, and he’s taken readers from the deck of the Mayflower to 9/11. His work has earned him many accolades and honors, including the 2005 New England Book Award, the 2015 Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and the 2019 Robert B. Parker Award. He and his wife live near Boston, where he serves on the boards of several cultural and historical institutions, and he has three grown children.

Event address: 

Titcomb’s Bookshop
432 Route 6A

East Sandwich, MA 02537
www.titcombsbookshop.com
508-888-2331