Sarah Penner’s “The Amalfi Curse” overflows with literal magic, suspense and romance, all set in the lush Italian coastal towns of Positano and Naples, in the shadow of a rumbling Mount Vesuvius.
The Florida-based author says that place and time are always her first creative ingredients. That literary recipe spawned her debut novel, “The Lost Apothecary,” which sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, and her equally successful follow-up, “The London Séance Society.” “The Amalfi Curse” is her third instant bestseller.
She returns to Naples on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 9, to kick off this season’s Author Spotlight Series for the Friends of the Library of Collier County. Through events like the series, the nonprofit Friends group raises hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Collier’s public libraries.
Author Spotlight Series expands into downtown Naples
Penner was the very first speaker when the Friends debuted the Author Spotlight Series in 2022. For this year, the series has expanded, presenting three guest authors at The Norris Center in downtown Naples.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Featured on Thursday, Nov. 6, will be Lew Paper, whose novel “Legacy of Lies” creatively explains the unsolved disappearance 50 years ago of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa. The series closes out on Thursday, April 9, with Rowan Beaird, author of “The Divorcées,” a novel set at a 1950s Reno, Nevada, divorce ranch and listed as a “best book” by Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, People and the Chicago Review of Books.
Lew Paper, author of "Legacy of Lies," will speak in the Friends of the Library of Collier County's Author Spotlight Series on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, at The Norris Center in Naples. (Photo by Jan Paper)
Because the series expands from two authors to three authors for 2025-26, a specially priced series ticket to all three events is being offered exclusively to Friends members. Seating will be general admission, and tickets are selling quickly. Each talk will be followed by a Q-and-A and a book signing. (See info box for details on dates, times and all ticket prices.)
Penner’s talk Oct. 9 will include anecdotes about her latest novel, “The Amalfi Curse,” which is packed with pirates, sea witches, stolen treasure, romance and betrayal on Italy’s Mediterranean coast. It became an instant bestseller on the New York Times, USA Today and Washington Post lists when it was published earlier this year. Publishers Weekly wrote: “Penner keeps the pages turning with cliffhangers and complex characters.”
First book 'The Lost Apothecary' was best seller
Her first novel, “The Lost Apothecary,” combined feminism, social commentary, mystery and magic with a cast of memorable female characters. Told in a dual timeline, that story follows a modern-day woman, betrayed by her cheating husband, who flees from America to England while mulling her next move.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
The parallel plot is set in 18th-century London, where a wife trapped in a bad marriage has fewer options, so she might turn to a sympathetic apothecary for a discreet vial of poison.
Her second book, “The London Séance Society” is a gothic whodunit about a female spiritualist in Victorian London who conjures the spirits of murder victims to find out the identity of their killers.
Penner shared some insights in an exclusive interview with us:
Naples Daily News: You’ve described your writing approach as “top-down,” saying you immerse yourself in a topic or setting before you start writing. Do you usually have your primary character developed before starting the research? How much might she change as you flesh out the other details?
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Sarah Penner: While many authors begin their stories with their key character(s) in mind, I nearly always find myself most inspired by setting or a sense of place. Typically, once I’ve settled on a location and era, I then begin to research how women lived in that time and place: home responsibilities, professions, attire, hobbies, societal expectations. The protagonists in my stories are always women who are well-respected or “best in class” in their professions, and they’re living in subversive ways by defying what society expects of them. For instance, a well-known apothecary who sells poison, or the leader of a coven of sea witches who, in fact, loathes the ocean. As I build the plot and layer conflict into the narrative, these qualities of cunning and rebellion in my characters continue to develop.
Sarah Penner, author of "The Amalfi Curse," will speak on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in the Author Spotlight Series of the Friends of the Library of Collier County, at The Norris Center in Naples.
NDN: The scuba diving scenes in “The Amalfi Curse” are so tense and realistic. Since you’re an experienced diver ― having started when you lived in Kansas, of all places! ― what have been your most thrilling and your scariest diving experiences?
Penner: My husband and I got our scuba dive open water certifications more than a decade ago, and we’ve gone diving all over the world, including lots of wreck dives! My most thrilling dive experience was in Thailand; it was a fairly deep dive (about 30 meters) and we dove along an underwater ledge just swarming with sea life. We swam through the largest school of fish I’ve ever seen — it felt like something out of National Geographic. As we swam, the school of fish would “part” open, let us in, and then close up and completely envelop us.
NDN: Are there any updates on Fox Entertainment’s plan to turn “The Lost Apothecary” into a TV series?
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Penner: No updates, except to say the TV series option is changing hands later this year. I’m always crossing my fingers!
NDN: What can you tell us about your next book? Is it also set in an exotic locale?
Penner: My 2027 book is the sequel to “The Lost Apothecary”! It's actually a sequel and a prequel. Finally, I’m answering all those burning questions I left unanswered at the end of “The Lost Apothecary.” Readers will reunite with their favorite characters, and meet new ones, too. There’s even a brief return to Nella’s beloved apothecary shop. And I’m already brainstorming and dabbling in research for my 2029 novel, which is a standalone and takes place in a brand new locale.
NDN: Book covers are so important to stand out in a crowded market, and your three novels have exceptionally eye-catching covers. What kind of input do you have in their creation?
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
SP: Each cover has been its own journey! I’m fortunate to work with a publisher that strives to collaborate on covers until everyone feels happy and heard. I always pull together an “inspiration” slide deck or Pinterest board, which I share with the art team. This includes images that feel aesthetically matched to the book, and/or color palettes. All of my books have rich jewel tones and feel luxe … many readers have told me they pick up my books because of the covers!
NDN: What’s the most memorable book you’ve read in the past year?
Penner: It's an oldie … but “Lonesome Dove”! It's the first and only Western I’ve ever read. I quite literally woke up one day with the desire to read a Western, and I happened to have my late father’s first-edition copy of “Lonesome Dove” in my personal library. I devoured all 950 pages of it! My husband and I are watching the miniseries now. I absolutely loved the book and highly recommend it.
Friends of the Library’s Author Spotlight Series
What: Author lectures that are a fundraiser by the Friends of the Library of Collier County. Kelly E. Capolino of Downing-Frye Realty returns this year as the exclusive sponsor of the Author Spotlight Series.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Where: The Norris Center, 755 Eighth Ave. S., Naples
When: Sarah Penner, Thursday, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m., followed by a book signing; Lew Paper, Thursday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m., followed by a book signing; Rowan Beaird, Thursday, April 9, at 2 p.m., followed by a book signing
Cost: A special offer ONLY for current members of Friends of the Library of Collier County is a series ticket to see all three authors for $150. Otherwise, single tickets are $55 for each lecture for current members of the Friends; $65 per lecture for nonmembers. All seating is general admission. Friends memberships begin at $40/year and also provide exclusive access and discounts to many other programs throughout the year.
Purchase tickets and become a member: Go to https://collier-friends.org/. If events sell out, a waiting list will be kept. Email Marlene Haywood, the Friends’ Program Director, at mhaywood@collier-friends.org or call 239-262-8135.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Florida author Sarah Penner's new novel about romance, magic, Italy
[SRC] https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/romance-magic-italy-focus-florida-090228489.html
