Niki Motley, one of the three founders of One City One Book Hamilton, planned on making this the nonfiction read in 2022, but instead went with the Daughters of Yalta, a nonfiction book also about World War II. There was worry over the logistics, as she is an author based in the UK, but Miami University Regionals and the Michael J. Colligan Fund helped navigate the hurdles.
“It’s a really fascinating story,” Motley said. “It’s a great read, great story.”
Published in 2019, “A Woman of No Importance” tells the story of Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and helped inspire the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare.
Purnell wrote that a 1942 memo sent out by the Gestapo said of Hall: “She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her.”
Matthew Smith, historian and regional director of Public Programs at Miami University Regionals, said having a community come together to be singularly involved in reading the same book is important, especially a book about a part of American history unknown to many.
“Nowadays, we’re in a world where people are disconnected by our technology, by our devices, and the narratives we get about the world come through social media, come through the different media we consume and different apps. From that point of view, there’s a great service to the grassroots of democracy that comes through an appreciation of our history, including the American victory in World War II.”
One City One Book built together a program where books are available through the Lane Public Library and free copies at local businesses so the community can read the story ahead of the events. The book is also available through the library’s Libby app as an ebook or audiobook.
“This is a way of creating a stir, an interest in history and understanding what makes up the country we are today,” Smith said.
One City One Book is similar to The Big Read, which was founded by the National Endowment for the Arts about a decade ago. Hamilton wasn’t ready for a communitywide reading event in the mid-2000s, Motley said but revisited the idea in 2016 with Honi Cohen and Karen Whalen.
The program alternates nonfiction and fiction. Last year, One City One Book featured the novel “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus. For locations and updates on the events, visit the One City One Book Hamilton Facebook page at facebook.com/OneCityOneBookHamilton.
ONE CITY ONE BOOK HAMILTON EVENTS
Oct. 1: Sonia Purnell Q&A: Award-winning biographer and author Sonia Purnell, will discuss her book, “A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy who Helped Win World War II,” at the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center at 7 p.m. The book uncovers the secret life of socialite Virginia Hall, an American spy in Nazi-occupied Europe. This program is sponsored by the Michael J. Colligan History Project and supported by the Hamilton Community Foundation. Reservations may be full but people can check the availability at miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp.
Oct. 2: Celebrating Self: Sonia Purnell’s New York Times bestseller “A Woman of No Importance,” will be the topic of discussion at 11:30 a.m. at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts with Ohio native Erin Dietrick, the Programs and Podcast Assistant at the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. She co-produces the SpyCast podcast and shares the skinny on the shadowy machinations that create secret agents. For tickets and information, visit www.fittoncenter.org/celebrating-self.
Oct. 10: Panel discussion: Miami University Hamilton Downtown will host a panel discussion of experts for an in-depth discussion of the New York Times bestselling book “A Woman of No Importance,” which explores the life of Virginia Hall and how she blazed a trail for future generations of American women in the world of spycraft and national intelligence. For RSVP, visit miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp.
PREVIOUS ONE CITY ONE BOOK READS
Here are the previous books in the One City One Book initiative:
2017: Hidden Figures by Margo Lee Shetterly
2018: Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel
2019: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
2020: Did not hold due to COVID
2021: Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
2022: Daughters of Yalta by Catherine Grace Katz
2023: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
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