Publication Date: March 3, 2026
From bestselling author Shelley Noble comes a gripping and timely historical novel of books, banning, and the women who helped save New York’s famed Book Row.
1915: Manhattan’s Book Row, an eclectic jumble of forty bookshops along Fourth Avenue, is the mecca for rare book buyers from around the world, and the haunt of locals looking for a bargain. It is also the target of the most vicious censor in American history—Anthony Comstock.
And home to three sisters who vow to stop him.
For the three Applebaum sisters, the narrow, four-storied Arcadia Rare Bookshop is the only home they’ve ever known. Olivia, the oldest, is an expert in restoring rare manuscripts. Daphne, the outgoing middle sister, oversees the retail shop and is a favorite with their customers. Celia, the youngest, is left to dust and catalogue, but often sneaks out to do heaven knows what. Little do her sisters know, Celia has joined a group of young people who secretly print and distribute articles on women’s health by hiding them within the pages of ordinary cookbooks, household hints, and sewing patterns, despite the personal risk.
Meanwhile, the Comstock Laws threaten anybody who owns or circulates “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” publications. Even classic literature or fine art could send a person to jail. In the face of such oppression, Celia and the booksellers of Book Row band together. But secrets and a mysterious stranger mean the fate of the famed Book Row is anything but secure.
Beginning in the 1870s, Anthony Comstock pushed an agenda of censorship throughout New York, with an anti-obscenity campaign directed at bookshops.
Author Shelley Noble serves up a slice of historical fiction featuring three women determined to protect their livelihood. The Sisters of Book Row may feature a trio of fictional main characters, but the concept is credible.
Defining pornography proves to be a moving target based on Comstock’s opinion of the day. As a result, bookshops like the Arcadia Rare Bookshop struggle to keep classic literature safe.
The three sisters, while they all work at the bookstore, have their own interests. Olivia’s concerns about losing her eyesight serve as a catalyst for gaining financial security. The middle sister, Daphne, functions as a social butterfly while the youngest, Celia, gets caught up in forbidden social activism.
The Sisters of Book Row highlights the early movements to resist censorship.
Shelley Noble is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Whisper Beach, Beach Colors, and The Tiffany Girls, the story of the largely unknown women artists responsible for much of Tiffany’s legendary glasswork, as well as several historical mysteries. A former professor, professional dancer and choreographer, she now lives in New Jersey halfway between the shore, where she loves visiting lighthouses and vintage carousels, and New York City, where she delights in the architecture, the theatre, and ferreting out the old stories behind the new. Shelley is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Historical Novel Society.
