Jill Lepore

Acclaimed historian, essayist and novelist Jill Lepore cinched her reputation as one of the freshest literary voices of the early 21st century with her ingenious book The Secret History of Wonder Woman (2014). The title is literal, not euphemistic: in its pages, Lepore strips the iconography from the titular female superhero, to reveal a steadfast commitment to feminism in the mysterious life of her creator, William Moulton Marston, that emerged subversively on the pages of Wonder Woman comic books. As unique as it is scintillating, Secret History became an instant bestseller and pushed Lepore into the national spotlight. In truth, however, it constituted the apex of an already lengthy and distinguished authorial career. As a young woman, the West Boylston, Massachusetts native earned degrees from Tufts University, the University of Michigan and Yale University, then taught at collegiate institutions including Boston University and Harvard, while penning critically acclaimed tomes on the side. Her first several volumes -- including 1999's Encounters in the New World: A History in Documents and 2005's Pulitzer Prize nominee New York Burning: Liberty and Slavery in an Eighteenth-Century City -- were straightforward historical reportage. 2008's Blindspot, however, deviated from this trend; co-written with Jane Kamensky, it constitutes a work of fiction about a Scottish refugee artist and his relationship with an in-drag female apprentice. In 2013, Lepore qualified as a National Book Award for Nonfiction finalist for her Jane Franklin Mecom biography Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin. Alongside her books and collegiate instruction, Lepore also published countless essays and reviews in such periodicals as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Journal of American History.