The heartwarming story of a young girl sent to live with the extraordinary Murphy Family in southern France. Ten-year-old Alice Atherton is sent by her father to spend the summer with his dear friends the Murphys who live with their three children and pet monkey in the French Riveria. There, Alice will meet and learn from some of the most extraordinary luminaries of the time. She visits a junk yard with Pablo Picasso looking for objects to make into art, performs a dance inspired by celestial bodies with the renowned Ballet Russes, and imagines magical adventures with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. An uplifting story that will appeal to readers who love books by authors like Kate DiCamillo and Jeanne Birdsall.
Lesley M. M. Blume Book order
Lesley M. M. Blume is an author, columnist, and journalist whose undergraduate studies were completed at Williams College and Oxford University, followed by a graduate degree in history from Cambridge University. Her writing delves into meticulous historical research, expertly weaving it into broader societal contexts with a depth and engaging style. She is a regular contributor to prominent publications such as Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, and Departures magazine, where her journalistic precision meets a distinct literary flair.






- 2023
- 2020
Fallout
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
ONE of THE NEW YORK TIMES'S 100 NOTABLE BOOKS of the YEAR * A VANITY FAIR and TOWN & COUNTRY BEST BOOK of the YEAR * New York Times bestselling author Lesley M.M. Blume reveals how one courageous American reporter uncovered one of the deadliest cover-ups of the 20th century—the true effects of the atom bomb—potentially saving millions of lives. Just days after the United States decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the US government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating effects of these then-experimental weapons. For nearly a year the cover-up worked—until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and managed to report the truth to the world. When the magazine published “Hiroshima” in August 1946, it became an instant global sensation, and inspired pervasive horror about the hellish new threat that America had unleashed. Since 1945, no nuclear weapons have ever been deployed in war partly because Hersey alerted the world to their true, devastating impact. This knowledge has remained among the greatest deterrents to using them since the end of World War II. Released on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Fallout is an engrossing detective story, as well as an important piece of hidden history that shows how one heroic scoop saved—and can still save—the world.
- 2016
"In the summer of 1925, Ernest hemingway traveled to Pamplona for the fmous runnning of the bulls. He then channeled that trip's drunken brawls, sexual rivalry, midnight betrayals, and midday hangovers into a novel that redifined modern literature. lesley Blume tells the full story behind Hemingway's legendary rise for the first time, revealing how he created his own image as the bullfighting aficionado, hard-drinking literary genius, and expatriate bon vivant. In all its youth, lust, and rivalry, the Lost Generation is illuminated here as never before." --Back cover
- 2012
Lets Bring Back the Cocktail Edition
- 207 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Discusses the colorful history of cocktails and barroom wisdom, including 144 drink recipes.
- 2011
Since moving to California from his native Germany, photographer Stephan Wurth has been fascinated with the mythical vistas of the American West and the isolation and freedom of vast desert expanses. Wurth culminates this geographical romance with the new series Ghost Town. These photographs narrate the tale of three women as they journey through Nevada, where they soon find themselves stranded with a broken-down car on the side of a desolate road. Shot over seven days on black-and-white Kodak Tri-X film, the images were scanned for the book from 16 x 20 inch hand-developed prints and never retouched. The book also features an epilogue by fashion and culture critic Lesley M. M. Blume.
- 2008
It’s 1932, the Depression. Things are evening out among people everywhere. Tennyson Fontaine and her sister Hattie live in a rickety shack of a house with their mother and father and their wild dog, Jos. There is no school, only a rope swing in the living room and endless games of hide-and-seek in the woods on the banks of the Mississippi. But when their mother disappears and their father sets off to find her, the girls find themselves whisked away to Aigredoux, once one of the grandest houses in Louisiana, and now a vine-covered ruin. Under the care of their austere Aunt Henrietta, who is convinced the girls will save the family’s failing fortunes, Tennyson discovers the truth about Aigredoux, the secrets that have remained locked deep within its decaying walls. Caught in a strange web of time and history, Tennyson comes up with a plan to bring Aigreoux’s past to light. But will it bring her mother home?
- 2008
Eleven-year-old Cornelia is the daughter of two world-famous pianists—a legacy that should feel fabulous, but instead feels just plain lonely. She surrounds herself with dictionaries and other books to isolate herself from the outside world. But when a glamorous neighbor named Virginia Somerset moves next door with her servant Patel and a mischievous French bulldog named Mister Kinyatta, Cornelia discovers that the world is a much more exciting place than she had originally thought. An unforgettable story of friendship and adventure that takes readers around the world and back again, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters is a dazzling first novel by Lesley M. M. Blume.
- 2006
Eleven-year-old Cornelia is the daughter of two world-famous pianists—a legacy that should feel fabulous, but instead feels just plain lonely. She surrounds herself with dictionaries and other books to isolate herself from the outside world. But when a glamorous neighbor named Virginia Somerset moves next door with her servant Patel and a mischievous French bulldog named Mister Kinyatta, Cornelia discovers that the world is a much more exciting place than she had originally thought. An unforgettable story of friendship and adventure that takes readers around the world and back again, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters is a dazzling first novel by Lesley M. M. Blume. From the Hardcover edition.