Haute Spot

Pataki’s Bestsellers Breathe Life Into Biographies

Allison Pataki loves a good story. From the moment she learned how to read, she’s had her nose in a book. And, even as a child, when she wasn’t reading, she’d concoct characters and dramatic storylines of her own. 

Her enthusiasm for reading naturally led her to writing, first as a journalist and later to literature. To date, the New York Times bestselling author has published eight books — five historical fiction, a memoir and two children’s books. Her latest, last year’s The Queen’s Fortune: A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire, has been lauded “a spellbinding read for those who enjoy stepping first-hand into periods of history.” 

A meticulous researcher, Pataki manages to take her readers on riveting journeys that read as realistic and yet also deeply informative. She’s a master at bringing history to life. From her first book, The Traitor’s Wife — an eye-opening tale about the spouse of Benedict Arnold, Peggy Shippen Arnold, who was the primary orchestrator one of American history’s most infamous acts of treason — to her last — a sweeping novel about Desiree Clary, the woman whom Napoleon left for Josephine and later went on to become the Queen of Sweden — her storytelling compels her audience to dive deep into the little-known stories of those who have changed the course of history, often with little fanfare.  

“I love being able to give the reader that access,” says Pataki. “These women have front-row seats to, and have actually shaped, history.” 

Learning as much as she can about her subjects is half the fun, says the former news writer and producer. So far, her investigations have led her to create historical fiction based on Sisi, the Austro-Hungarian Empress and “Fairy Queen” of the Habsburg Empire (in both The Accidental Empress and Sisi: Empress On Her Own) and the French Revolution, in collaboration with her brother, Owen Pataki, in Where the Light Falls.

Once she lands on a topic, she can spend years uncovering the facts and laying the groundwork for her novel.

“I’ll land on this figure, this moment in time, and it just grips me,” she says. “Once I’ve been bitten, it becomes an obsession.” 

A popular author who has been featured at East Hampton Library’s annual Authors Night fundraiser several times; Pataki will be appearing this year with her father, George Pataki, and brother, Owen Pataki, during a live virtual conversation on Thursday, August 12, at 4 p.m. Next year, she hopes to come back to talk about her upcoming work of historical fiction, The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, which will hit bookshelves in February 2022. 

That novel, which has direct ties to the East End, via Post’s late daughter, Dina Merrill — an American actress, heiress, socialite, businesswoman and philanthropist — is sure to be a big hit here in the Hamptons, and beyond. It’s an epic reimagining of the incredible life of General Foods heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, a legendary hostess and high society fixture, who became the nation’s wealthiest woman by the age of 30.

“Her story is ripe for the telling,” Pataki says of her latest subject, a favorite, and one on whom she has done copious amounts of research and interviews. “Her homes, her style, her philanthropy, her loves, her trailblazing. It’s just so rich.”

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The New York-based author, whose works have been translated into 20 languages, still relishes the fact that she’s been able to successfully pursue her lifelong passions of reading, researching and writing.

“The power of the story, that’s what transports me,” she says. “I still can’t believe that I’m lucky enough to do this, that I’ve been able to make a career of these things that I love so much.”

www.allisonpataki.com                                    
www.authorsnight.org