Short bio: A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting a MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel The Other Alcott was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. Three more novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Her next book, The Library of Lost Dollhouses, will be out in spring '25. Elise lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters.
Long bio: I grew up in New England as a bonafide bookworm. My love of reading, paired with an overly active imagination, led me to believe I was born in the wrong era. Instead of living in the ‘80s, I was supposed to be traveling across the prairie in a covered wagon (Laura Ingalls), chasing fauns through Narnia (Susan or Lucy Pevensie), or exploring Prince Edward Island in “puffed sleeves” (Anne Shirley); instead I crossed town in a station wagon to chase field hockey balls and wore Tretorns to explore the mall, all while dreaming of leading a more storied existence somewhere like Thornfield Hall or Manderley.
After eventually moving to the West coast and attending graduate school, I started teaching high school English and history and writing whenever I had the chance. My main characters tend to be based on the lives of real women who have been frequently overlooked in history books. Many of these women, like May Alcott, Dorothea Lange, Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, Louise Stokes, and the Angels of Bataan can help us better understand the past and draw important connections to our own times.
Visiting the “Women Artists in Paris: 1850-1900” exhibit at the Speed Museum.
Quick Links
Link to high res image of cover for THE OTHER ALCOTT
Link to high res image of cover for LEARNING TO SEE
Link to Elise's high res head shot
The Other Alcott is historical fiction about art, ambition, and the real women behind the March sisters in Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little Women.
Learning to See is biographical fiction about Dorothea Lange, the pioneering documentary photographer who captured iconic images of the Great Depression and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Fast Girls is a novel that explores the gripping, real-life history of female athletes, members of the first integrated women’s Olympic team, and their journeys to the 1936 summer games in Berlin, Nazi Germany.
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