Harry Bennett Branch Local Author Series: Constance Briones, a National Poetry Month Program

Poet and author Constance Briones will discuss her debut historical fiction novel, Try Before You Trust.

In Try Before You Trust, we meet Isabella Whitney, an ambitious and daring 18-year-old maidservant turned poet. Having risked reputation and virtue by allowing her passions for her employer's aristocratic nephew to get the better of her, Isabella enters the fray of the pamphlet wars, a scurrilous debate on the merits of women. She's determined to make her mark by becoming the first woman to write a poem defending women in love, highlighting the deceptive practices of the men who woo them. Her journey to publication is fraught with challenges as she navigates through the male-dominated literary world and the harsh realities of life in sixteenth-century London for a single woman. Loosely based on the life of Elizabethan poet Isabella Whitney, this is a compelling tale of a young woman's resilience and determination to challenge the status quo and leave her mark in a world that was not ready for her.

Registration required.

Constance Briones, who is interested in highlighting little-known stories of women in history, has a master's degree in woman's history, which informs her writing. She first learned about the sixteenth-century English poet Isabella Whitney while doing research for her thesis on literacy and women in Tudor England. Isabella Whitney's gusty personality to defy the conventions of her day, both in her thinking and actions, impressed Briones enough to imagine that she would make a very engaging literary heroine.

Briones is a contributing writer to Historical Times, an online magazine. When not writing, she lends her time as an educational docent for her town's historical society. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and Maine coon sibling cats, Thor and Percy.