“Martha Hall Kelly was the perfect choice for our Assistance League of St. Louis Authors Brunch 2024. It was a sellout event!”

Martha Hall Kelly is a native New Englander, and author of Lilac Girls, which was an instant New York Times bestseller and went on to sell two million copies. This beautiful debut novel is based on the true story of 72 Polish women who were imprisoned at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, and how Caroline Ferriday, an American philanthropist and former actress brought them to the US for rehabilitation and the trip of a lifetime. Martha researched the story for over ten years; Publishers Weekly lauded it as “a page-turner, demonstrating the tests and triumphs civilians faced during war, complemented by Kelly’s vivid description of history and excellent characters.”

Once the paperback stayed on the NYT list for 54 weeks, and became published in fifty countries she wrote two more novels: Lost Roses about Caroline’s mother, and Sunflower Sisters about her great grandmother, which also became Instant NY Times bestsellers. Her novel, The Golden Doves, is a page-turning historical thriller about two best friends who track down an infamous Nazi doctor in the aftermath of WWII. Her latest novel, The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club (May 2025), follows two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II who find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women.

Martha grew up in Massachusetts and now splits her time between Connecticut, Florida and New York City. She holds a degree in Journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and a Master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School.

Martha's Featured Titles

The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club: A Novel

Ballantine Books |
Women’s Fiction

Two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women—a spectacular novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls.

2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Deveraux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Deveraux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.

1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old, wannabe writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old, war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended. In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend Bess start a book club, which grows in both number and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war… before it’s too late?

The Golden Doves: A Novel

Ballantine Books |
Historical Fiction

Two former female spies, bound together by their past, risk everything to hunt down an infamous Nazi doctor in the aftermath of World War II—an extraordinary novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls

American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become known as the Golden Doves, renowned across France and hunted by the Gestapo. Their courage will cost them everything. When they are finally arrested and taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with their loved ones, a reclusive Nazi doctor does unspeakable things to Josie’s mother, a celebrated Jewish singer who joined her daughter in Paris when the world seemed bright. And Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again.

A decade later the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: Josie is working for U.S. Army intelligence and accepts an assignment to hunt down the infamous doctor, while a mysterious man tells Arlette he may have found her son. The Golden Doves embark on a quest across Europe and ultimately to French Guiana, discovering a web of terrible secrets, and must put themselves in grave danger to finally secure justice and protect the ones they love.

Martha Hall Kelly has garnered acclaim for her stunning combination of empathy and research into the stories of women throughout history and for exploring the terrors of Ravensbrück. With The Golden Doves, she has crafted an unforgettable story about the fates of Nazi fugitives in the wake of World War II—and the unsung females spies who risked it all to bring them to justice.

Sunflower Sisters

Ballantine Books |
Novel

Georgeanna “Georgey” Woolsey isn’t meant for the world of lavish parties and the demure attitudes of women of her stature. So when war ignites the nation, Georgey follows her passion for nursing during a time when doctors considered women on the battlefront a bother. In proving them wrong, she and her sister Eliza venture from New York to Washington, D.C., to Gettysburg and witness the unparalleled horrors of slavery as they become involved in the war effort.

In the South, Jemma is enslaved on the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, where she lives with her mother and father. Her sister, Patience, is enslaved on the plantation next door, and both live in fear of LeBaron, an abusive overseer who tracks their every move. When Jemma is sold by the cruel plantation mistress Anne-May at the same time the Union army comes through, she sees a chance to finally escape—but only by abandoning the family she loves.

Anne-May is left behind to run Peeler Plantation when her husband joins the Union army and her cherished brother enlists with the Confederates. In charge of the household, she uses the opportunity to follow her own ambitions and is drawn into a secret Southern network of spies, finally exposing herself to the fate she deserves.

Inspired by true accounts, Sunflower Sisters provides a vivid, detailed look at the Civil War experience, from the barbaric and inhumane plantations, to a war-torn New York City, to the horrors of the battlefield. It’s a sweeping story of women caught in a country on the brink of collapse, in a society grappling with nationalism and unthinkable racial cruelty, a story still so relevant today.

Lost Roses

Ballantine Books |
Novel

It is 1914, and the world has been on the brink of war so often, many New Yorkers treat the subject with only passing interest. Eliza Ferriday is thrilled to be traveling to St. Petersburg with Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. The two met years ago one summer in Paris and became close confidantes. Now Eliza embarks on the trip of a lifetime, home with Sofya to see the splendors of Russia: the church with the interior covered in jeweled mosaics, the Rembrandts at the tsar’s Winter Palace, the famous ballet.

But when Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia’s imperial dynasty begins to fall, Eliza escapes back to America, while Sofya and her family flee to their country estate. In need of domestic help, they hire the local fortune-teller’s daughter, Varinka, unknowingly bringing intense danger into their household.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Eliza is doing her part to help the White Russian families find safety as they escape the revolution. But when Sofya’s letters suddenly stop coming, she fears the worst for her best friend.

From the turbulent streets of St. Petersburg and aristocratic countryside estates to the avenues of Paris where a society of fallen Russian émigrés live to the mansions of Long Island, the lives of Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka will intersect in profound ways. In her newest powerful tale told through female-driven perspectives, Martha Hall Kelly celebrates the unbreakable bonds of women’s friendship, especially during the darkest days of history.

Lilac Girls

Thorndike Press |
Novel

“NEW YORK TIMES “BESTSELLER For readers of “The Nightingale” and “Sarah’s Key, ” inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades.

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939 and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbruck, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

In “Lilac Girls, ” Martha Hall Kelly has crafted a remarkable novel of unsung women and their quest for love, freedom, and second chances. It is a story that will keep readers bonded with the characters, searching for the truth, until the final pages.

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LILAC GIRLS: the true story behind the global bestseller

Discover the story behind Lilac Girls from inception to publication, including the research travel to Lublin, Poland, the birthplace of the women known as the Rabbits, and to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp Memorial in Furstenberg, Germany to meet the Rabbits. Can be customized to include all four books. Available with PowerPoint presentation.

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Strong Women in History

The Real Women behind Lilac Girls, Lost Roses, Sunflower Sisters and the Golden Doves

A talk focusing on the real women behind all four books, including three generations of Woolsey/Ferriday women from Caroline Ferriday to her great grandmother Jane Eliza. Available with PowerPoint presentation.

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The True Story Behind the Golden Doves: From Operation Paperclip to Tracing the Nazi Ratline

A talk focusing on Martha’s fourth book The Golden Doves and shares her research travel to Italy unearthing long buried secrets of how the Nazis funneled fugitives to South America and other countries of refuge. Available with PowerPoint presentation.

Martha is happy to customize a combination of any of the elements above.

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Martha's Vineyard During WWII: The Hidden history

Introducing LILAC GIRLS: A Novel by Martha Hall Kelly

LOST ROSES Trailer

Book Club Resources and Kits

Martha’s Events

Martha’s Blog

Martha’s Facebook Link

Martha’s Instagram Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Instant New York Times Bestsellers | Lilac Girls, Lost Roses and Sunflower Sisters
54 weeks on the NY Times bestseller list | Lilac Girls
IndieNext List
One Million Copies Sold
French Grand Prix for Foreign Fiction 2022 | Sunflower Sisters
Library Reads Hall of Fame
Three Indiebound Bestsellers

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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