Susanna L. Porter, Vice President and Executive Editor in the Random House Publishing Group, is noted for her success in acquiring historical fiction, including several novels written from the perspective of women. Her most recent success is The Paris Wife, Paula McLain’s bestselling novel released earlier this year about the first wife of American author Ernest Hemingway, Hadley Richardson, who was married to the writer during his 20s. Just after World War I, when Hemingway was still struggling to achieve recognition for his work, the couple lived in Paris as expatriates with other Lost Generation writers like Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Sherwood Anderson. Ms. Porter has recently acquired Ms. McLain’s next book, which will focus on the life of another noted woman, Marie Curie. Similarly, Ms. Porter was the acquiring editor for Anne Fortier’s novel Juliet, which focuses on the heroine of Shakespeare’s play Romeo & Juliet, and Nancy Horan’s bestselling novel Loving Frank, which is about famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright as seen through the character of his mistress. In an interview last year after purchasing McLain’s novel, Ms. Porter confessed to having a weak spot for books that depict famous men from history through the prism of the women in their lives. “I remember reading Nora, which was about Nora Joyce, and I preferred it so much to reading a biography of Joyce,” Ms. Porter said. “When you have the woman, you have the life.” Ms. Porter also acquires fiction with a contemporary setting (for example, the work of Dan Chaon), as well as nonfiction including recent works such as Alison Weir’s The Lady in the Tower, Lynne Olson’sCitizens of London, Kenneth Slawenski’s
J.D. Salinger, A Life, and Amanda Foreman’s A World on Fire—all of these national bestsellers. Ms. Porter lives in New York with her husband, investment banker James Mott Clark, Jr., and their daughters, Alexandra and Lansing.