Audiobooks by Madeleine Blais

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Queen of the Court: The Many Lives of Tennis Legend Alice Marble

"In August 1939, Alice Marble graced the cover of Life magazine, photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. She was a glamorous worldwide celebrity, having that year won singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles tennis titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open, then an unprecedented feat. Yet today one of America's greatest female athletes and most charismatic characters is largely forgotten. Queen of the Court places her back on center stage. Given a tennis racket at thirteen, she took to the sport immediately, rising to the top with a powerful, aggressive serve-and-volley style unseen in women's tennis. A champion at the height of her fame in the late 1930s, she also designed a clothing line and sang as a performer. World War II derailed her amateur tennis career, but her life off the court was even more eventful. Perhaps her greatest legacy lies in her successful efforts to persuade the all-white US Lawn Tennis Association to change its policy and allow African American star Althea Gibson to compete for the US championship in 1950, thereby breaking tennis's color barrier. In two memoirs, Marble showed herself to be an at-times unreliable narrator of her own life, which Madeleine Blais navigates skillfully, especially Marble's claims of having been a spy during World War II. In Queen of the Court, Blais recaptures a glittering life story."

Madeleine Blais (Author), Moniqua Plante (Narrator)

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In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle: A True Story of Hoop Dreams and One Very Special Team

"“Beautifully written . . . A celebration of girls and athletics.” The national bestselling sports classic from a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist (USA Today). Expanded and updated with a new epilogue, Madeleine Blais’ book tells the story of a season in the life of the Amherst Lady Hurricanes, a girls’ high school basketball team from the Western Massachusetts college town. The Hurricanes were a talented team with a near-perfect record, but for five straight years, when it came to the crunch of the playoffs, they somehow lacked the desire to go all the way. Now, led by senior guards Jen Pariseau, a three-point specialist, and Jamila Wideman, an All-American phenom, this was the year to prove themselves. It was a season to test their passion for the sport and their loyalty to each other, and a chance to discover who they really were. As an off-season of summer jobs and basketball camps turns to fall, as students arrive and the games begin, Blais charts the ups and downs of the team and paints a portrait of the wider Amherst community, which comes to revel in the athletic exploits of their girls. Finally, a women’s team was getting the attention they deserve. And the Hurricanes were richly deserving; these teenage girls are fierce and funny, smart and ambitious, and they are the heart of this gripping book. “Extraordinary.” —The Baltimore Sun “A picture of a changing period in American sports history, when a town rallied around its female athletes in a way that had previously been reserved for males.” —Publishers Weekly"

Madeleine Blais (Author), Christina Traister (Narrator)

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To the New Owners: A Martha's Vineyard Memoir

"In the 1970s, Madeleine Blais's in-laws purchased a vacation house on Martha's Vineyard for the exorbitant sum of $80,000. 2.2 miles down a poorly marked, one lane dirt road, the house was better termed a shack—it had no electricity, no modern plumbing, the roof leaked, and mice had invaded the walls. It was perfect. Sitting on Tisbury Great Pond—well-stocked with oysters and crab for foraged dinners—the house faced the ocean and the sky, and though it was eventually replaced by a sturdier structure, the ethos remained the same: no heat, no TV, and no telephone. Instead, there were countless hours at the beach, meals cooked and savored with friends, nights talking under the stars, until at last, the house was sold in 2014. To the New Owners is Madeleine Blais's charming, evocative memoir of this house, and of the Vineyard itself—from the history of the island and its famous visitors to the ferry, the pie shops, the quirky charms and customs, and the abundant natural beauty. But more than that, this is an elegy for a special place."

Madeleine Blais (Author), Laura Copland (Narrator)

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