Illinois State book club author talk: Piper Huguley of By Her Own Design

The Illinois State University Alumni Association believes in lifelong learning and career development even after graduation. The ISU Alumni Association Book Club provides members an opportunity to read, discuss, and interact through lifelong learning topics. As a part of the latest reading selection, By Her Own Design, members and nonmembers of the book club can hear from the author, Piper Huguley. Be sure to register in advance to gain access to the talk.

Piper G. Huguley’s biographical historical fiction, By Her Own Design: a novel of Ann Lowe, Fashion Designer to the Social Register (William Morrow Publishing) tells the inspiring story of the Black fashion designer of Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress. By Her Own Design was a Booklist top 100 Editor’s Choice selection for 2022 and was named one of the top 100 books of 2022 in Canada by the Globe and Mail newspaper.

She is also the author of Sweet Tea by Hallmark Publishing and the author of two historical romance series: “Migrations of the Heart”, about the Great Migration and “Home to Milford College”. Her next historical fiction book, American Daughters (2024), is the story of the decades-long interracial friendship between Alice Roosevelt and Portia Washington, the rebel teenage daughters of President Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington, respectively. She is a literature professor at Clark-Atlanta University and blogs about the history behind her novels at http://piperhuguley.com . She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and son.