The Cape Doctor (Little, Brown & Co., 2021)
E.J. Levy (Photo: Desiree Suchy)
The Cape Doctor (Little, Brown & Co., 2021)
Please join us on Thursday, July 29, at 5 p.m. Eastern, for a 2021 History Book Festival virtual event with E. J. Levy, author of The Cape Doctor (Little, Brown & Co., 2021). This event is free but registration is required.
About the book
This novel is based on the true story of James Miranda Barry, who began life as a penniless Irish girl but ended up successfully practicing medicine as a man in 19th-century Cape Town, South Africa. Barry changed from daughter to son in order to enter medical school and provide for family but soon embraced the freedom of living life as a man. After befriending the aristocratic Cape Governor, he rose to the pinnacle of society, before the two were publicly accused of a homosexual affair that scandalized the colonies and nearly cost them their lives.
About the author
E. J. Levy’s work has been featured in The Best American Essays, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation and Paris Review. She is the author of a prize-winning story collection, Love, In Theory, and her anthology, Tasting Life Twice: Literary Lesbian Fiction by New American Writers, won the Lambda Literary Award. Levy teaches in the MFA Program at Colorado State University.
How to attend the online event
All registered attendees will receive a follow-up email from “LibCal” with Zoom log-in information. If you don’t receive this email after registering, please check your SPAM folder. If you still can’t locate the email, please contact info@historybookfestival.org.
Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes. Each copy purchased comes with a signed archival bookplate.
About the Festival
With the help of our presenting sponsors—Delaware Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices I Gallo Realty—as well as our community partners and volunteers, the 2021 History Book Festival will, once again, be full of great discussions online with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction.
Our 2021 Festival will follow last year’s format: allowing you to bring history home—and stay safe! We are extremely grateful for the virtual venue and assistance in event promotion provided by the Lewes Public Library, in conjunction with the Delaware Division of Libraries and Sussex County Libraries. Thanks also to Browseabout Books, our official bookseller, and the Cape Gazette, our media partner.