Fonseca - Hardcover

by Jessica Francis Kane (Author)

Named a Top 10 Historical Fiction Book of 2025 by the New York Times Book Review
Named a Best Book of the Year by Esquire, Kirkus, and the Chicago Tribune Biblioracle
Named a Best Historical Fiction Book and Best Audio Book of the Year by Bookpage
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

"Kane's remarkable excavation of this interlude, including real letters from Valpy, drips with juicy conflict and detail." --Los Angeles Times

"A fable with heart and a searching investigation into what makes a marriage endure." --Boston Globe

"A marvel of sharp concision." --Wall Street Journal

"A daring book . . . fresh and beautiful." --Chicago Tribune

The story acclaimed English author Penelope Fitzgerald never wrote, of her real-life journey to Mexico with her son in search of a much-needed inheritance, by Jessica Francis Kane, bestselling author of Rules for Visiting

Penelope Fitzgerald's charming husband is a struggling alcoholic, the London literary magazine they edit together is on the brink of bankruptcy, and she is pregnant with their third child. When she receives a mysterious letter dangling the possibility of an inheritance, Penelope sees a creative and practical lifeline that might save them. Based on Fitzgerald's momentous 1952 trip to northern Mexico before she was famous, Jessica Francis Kane's brilliantly imagined Fonseca is both a treasure hunt and a love story.

Blending history, biography, and fiction, Kane has created an enthralling world while telling a story about how far someone might go in pursuit of a dream.

Author Biography

Jessica Francis Kane is the author of the national bestseller Rules for Visiting, This Close, The Report, and Bending Heaven. This Close was longlisted for The Story Prize, The Report was a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and Rules for Visiting was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared in many publications, including Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, Slate, Virginia Quarterly Review, McSweeney's, ZYZZYVA, and Granta. She lives in New York City and Connecticut.