Nancy Rubin Stuart
Poor Richard’s Women: Deborah Read Franklin and the Other Women Behind the Founding Father
Everyone knows Benjamin Franklin, the thrifty inventor-statesman of the Revolutionary era, but not about his love life. Poor Richard’s Women reveals the long-neglected voices of the women Ben loved and lost during his lifelong struggle between passion and prudence. Among them was his long suffering wife of 44 years; a Rhode Island beauty twenty five years his junior; his English “second” wife, a famous French musician and a free-spirited beauty who hosted a famous Parisian salon. You’ll discover new insights about the founding father as well as the surprising independence of women he loved.
[Recorded August 13, 2022.]
Nancy Rubin Stuart (nancyrubinstuart.com | Facebook | LinkedIn) has written several acclaimed nonfiction books that focus upon women and social history. Beacon Press published POOR RICHARD’S WOMEN; Deborah Read Franklin and the Other Women Behind the Founding Father in March. Nancy, who directs the Cape Cod Writers Center (capecodwriterscenter.org), has written for the New York Times and national magazines.