On Feb. 1, Claremont McKenna College’s Athenaeum invited Kate Quinn — New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction — to deliver the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies’ 2023-24 Lerner Lecture.
The Lerner Lecture’s theme, “Hinge Moments in History,” focused on vital turning points in past eras and connected to Quinn’s expertise in writing historical fiction. Sponsored by the Gould Center, Quinn’s talk highlighted the importance of historical fiction and the process of crafting a story. It also explored her experience writing her three books: “The Rose Code,” “Alice Network” and “The Diamond Eye.”
Amy Kind, director of the Gould Center, selected Kate Quinn for her distinctive approach to history and storytelling, noting her focus on women’s often underrepresented role.
“She’s written about a lot of different hinge moments and because she often focuses on female protagonists, it sort of gives us a different window into those hinge moments,” Kind said. “I hope that listeners will learn some about the untold stories of women in these hinge moments.”
Quinn emphasized her devotion to spotlighting women’s voices from the past and crafting them into empowering stories through exploring history and fiction.
“What really interests me is the ways in which women of any historical period find ways to carve out these spheres of influence, independence and power when they live in times that do not want them to have it,” Quinn said. “But if you go back and do some digging, you’ll find that women have always done this no matter when they lived or where.”
In addition to her emphasis on women in history, Quinn’s concentrations in World War I and II proved relevant to the Lerner Lecture’s theme.
“World War II is certainly a hinge moment in history and she approaches it really well,” Kind said. “It’s not just this one book; almost all of her books that I’m familiar with take place during World War I or World War II.”
During her talk, Quinn shared the challenges of writing historical fiction and the process of honoring characters’ stories and perspectives.
“I [hope] that talking about amazing women of the past [will allow attendees to] walk away knowing a little bit more about some of the ladies that have come before and blazed the trail in various areas of life,” Quinn said. “[I hope they] find out a little bit more about some of the women who came before us and what they’ve contributed to history because it’s some amazing things.”
Jil Stark, former CMC President Jack L. Stark’s wife, said she felt drawn to the talk because of her interest in Quinn’s books.
“I love her books,” Stark said. “I’ve read all of her books and I got two today. I think she’s a good writer and I knew about [the talk] a long time in advance [and] put it on my calendar.”
Julia Victor SC ’26 said she found interest in learning about the untold perspectives in history and she found herself with questions after Quinn’s talk.
“I was very interested in the fact that most of the heroic women she wrote about were people who supported their countries and were very nationalistic,” Victor said. “I think it kind of sparks the question of what defines a hero and it’s like who’s upholding versus taking down systems.”
When asked about his key takeaways from the talk, Justin Carr CM ’24 shared that he gained a stronger fascination with the World War and historical fiction from Quinn’s talk.
“I didn’t have much knowledge going into it, so I appreciated how she took some non-fiction stories from the World War and tried to give her take on how those would play out or tweak them,” Carr said. “I thought she gave a really interesting take on it and I enjoyed it very much.”
Victor shared similar sentiments to Carr’s and noted that she left the event with a deepened knowledge about women in the World War.
“I did also learn a lot about some really cool women,” Victor said. “I did not know that there were female snipers in the World War. That was pretty crazy.”
Carr and Victor’s takeaways from the talk reflected Quinn’s desire to amplify and revive historically marginalized voices.
“Keep learning, keep listening and look for the places around the edges of history because so much of history is focused on the winners,” Quinn said. “You will find amazing stories that you had no idea existed.”
These untold pieces of history motivate Quinn to continue crafting stories about women from the past.
“When I read about women like this, I want to shout out their names from the rooftops because I think more people should know about them,” Quinn said. “I love making stories out of history and I feel incredibly lucky and privileged that I get to do this for a living.”
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