Ask an Author with Eliza Knight
Occasionally you hear about a book coming out and you think, “Yep, that’s got me written all over it.”
Enter Confessions of a Grammar Queen!
Eliza Knight’s new book hits a bunch of my reader sweet spots, and I could tell that just from the description. If you don’t believe me, take a read yourself.
There are no female publishing CEOs in 1960's New York. And that is exactly what savvy, ambitious Bernadette Swift plans to change.
Bernadette Swift, a young copyeditor at Lenox & Park Publishing, is determined to become the first female CEO in the publishing industry. But first she needs to take the next step up that ladder with a promotion that her boorish and sexist boss wants to thwart. Seeking a base of support, Bernadette joins a feminist women's book club at the New York Public Library, and soon, she's inspiring her fellow members to challenge the male gatekeepers and decades of ingrained sexism in their workplaces and pursue their personal and professional dreams.
And that is precisely what Bernedette does on a daily basis: keeps her eye on the prize—equality for women in the workplace, and a promotion—while fending off the ire of her boss and the sabotaging efforts of a jealous coworker. With the support of her book club buddies and a certain charismatic editor at Lenox & Park who has completely fallen for her, maybe, just maybe, Bernadette will prove able to claim victory for herself and the young women coming after her.
Now Eliza has kindly agreed to answer a few questions as part of this month’s Ask an Author series. I hope you enjoy this interview!
Can you tell us a little about how you came to write Confessions of a Grammar Queen?
In the summer of 2022, I met Frank in a bar in Columbus, Ohio—a massive Harlequin Great Dane who acted like he owned the place. He wandered from table to table with the swagger of dude who owned the place. As a lifelong dog lover, I was smitten. I turned to my husband and daughter and said, “That dog needs to go in a book.”
A month later, while blasting Taylor Swift’s “The Man” while road tripping on a book tour, I had a flash of inspiration. By the end of the song, I had a heroine—Bernadette—and Frank was faithfully by her side. The idea kept building as I wandered the New York Public Library. I thought about women in publishing and who the icons were, the women who paved the way. I wanted to write a story that was a nod to their ambitions and perseverance. I called my agent with a pitch I couldn’t stop thinking about: a smart, stylish woman in 1960s publishing, with a secret feminist book club at the NYPL, determined to become the industry’s first female CEO. Confessions of a Grammar Queen was born.
Bernadette Swift is such a great character—ambitious, charming, and determined. Did you draw inspiration from any particular historical figures when writing her?
Yes! There are two women in particular who really inspired me for Bernadette’s character. First, Eleanor Gould Packard—she was known as The Grammarian at The New Yorker, and honestly, she was legendary. She had this laser-sharp brain and was famously exacting—writers both dreaded and adored her edits because she always made their work better. She spent nearly fifty years making sure every sentence was clear and correct, and she proved that copyediting wasn’t just a technical job—it was an art.
Then there’s Phyllis E. Grann, who became the first female CEO of a major American publishing house—Penguin Putnam—in the late ’80s. She was such a force. While others debated whether a book was “literary” or “commercial,” she saw the power of both. She helped launch huge names like Judy Blume and Patricia Cornwell and totally changed the game for women in publishing. She didn’t just open the door—she blew it off the hinges.
Both of these women were trailblazers in their own ways, and I wanted Bernadette to carry a bit of their boldness, brilliance, and grit.
What surprised you about the world of 1960s publishing when you began to research this book?
I was surprised but also not surprised that there weren’t any women as CEO’s of a publishing house given how influential women were in the book world. For example, there were a number of bestselling women writers, and there were women editors, but there seemed to be a barrier to leading higher than that. It wasn’t until 1987 that Grann, who had been in the publishing business since the late 1950s, became the first female CEO of a publishing house and that really shocked me that it took so long.
You have a very busy summer coming up because you also have another book coming out, Rush Week published under the pen name Michelle Brandon! Can you tell us a little about that book and why you decided to write a contemporary drama set against the backdrop of a sorority?
It is definitely a busy summer! I’m really excited for Rush Week which is a juicy contemporary novel based on the TikTok phenomenon #BamaRushTok—about four sorority sisters brought back to the top-tier house they ruled at the University of Alabama, when secrets they’d thought long buried threaten to resurface. I’d been toying with the idea of writing a contemporary novel for some time, and had several conversations with my agent about possibly doing so between historicals. My editor approached her at the same time saying she was looking for someone to write a juicy novel, and I jumped!
I always make sure to ask our Ask an Author guests about some of their favorite recent reads. Do you have any books that you’d like to recommend?
I have two books that I’ve read and LOVED! The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon and Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister.
Eliza Knight is an award-winning and USA Today and international bestselling author of historical women’s fiction. Her love of history began as a young girl when she traipsed the halls of Versailles. As an avid history buff, she’s written dozens of novels including The Mayfair Bookshop, Starring Adele Astaire, Ribbons of Scarlet, A Day of Fire, and Can’t We Be Friends, which have been translated into multiple languages. She is the creator of the popular historical blog, History Undressed, and host of the History, Books and Wine podcast. Knight lives in Maryland and Florida with her husband, three daughters, two dogs, and a turtle.Eliza will also publish her first contemporary women's fiction novel in 2025 under the pseudonym, Michelle Brandon. You can find out more about Eliza’s books at https://elizaknight.com/.