We're very excited to welcome best-selling author Amy Hill Hearth to a virtual conversation with Skylark's free-range bookseller-at-large, Mary Webber O'Malley, to talk about her gripping historical thriller, Silent Came the Monster, which is inspired by the 1916 Jersey Shore shark (eek). It’s a fabulous read, inspired by a series of true events.
In the summer of 1916, swimming in the sea is a popular new pastime, but people up and down the East Coast are shocked and mystified by a fatal attack on a swimmer. A prominent surgeon, Dr. Edwin Halsey, examines the victim, and concludes that the perpetrator was a shark—and that it will strike again. With the public and the authorities—and even those who witnessed the attacks—so stubbornly disbelieving, Dr. Halsey finds himself fighting widespread confusion, conspiracy theories, and outright denial. Seeking the input of commercial fisherman, he soon learns they have long been concerned about a creature they call the Beast, but can Dr. Halsey convince the rest of the world before it’s too late?
This story changed the way Americans think of the seashore, reminding us once again that nature plays by its own rules.
Amy Hill Hearth is the author or coauthor of multiple nonfiction books on American history, life, and culture, including Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, the New York Times bestseller-turned-Broadway-play. Hearth, a former writer for The New York Times, began her career as a reporter at a small daily newspaper in Florida, where she met her future husband, Blair. She is a graduate of the University of Tampa.