A Celebration of Books,
Writers & LIterary Excellence

Save the Date


Gaithersburg
Book Festival

May 18, 2024

10am – 6pm

Bohrer Park


Denny S. Bryce

Latest Title: Can't We Be Friends: A Novel of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe
Can't We Be Friends: A Novel of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe
Can't We Be Friends by Denny S. Bryce

Award-winning author Denny S. Bryce and USA Today bestselling author Eliza Knight collaborate on a brilliant novel that uncovers the boundary-breaking, genuine friendship between Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Jazz, and iconic movie star Marilyn Monroe.

One woman was recognized as the premiere singer of her era with perfect pitch and tireless ambition.

One woman was the most glamorous star in Hollywood, a sex symbol who took the world by storm.

And their friendship was fast and firm…

1952: Ella Fitzgerald is a renowned jazz singer whose only roadblock to longevity is society’s attitude toward women and race. Marilyn Monroe’s star is rising despite ongoing battles with movie studio bigwigs and boyfriends. When she needs help with her singing, she wants only the best—and the best is the brilliant Ella Fitzgerald. But Ella isn’t a singing teacher and declines—then the two women meet, and to everyone’s surprise but their own, they become fast friends.

On the surface, what could they have in common? Yet each was underestimated by the men in their lives—husbands, managers, hangers-on. And both were determined to gain. Each fought for professional independence and personal agency in a time when women were expected to surrender control to those same men.

This novel reveals and celebrates their surprising bond over a decade and serves as a poignant reminder of how true friendship can cross differences to bolster and sustain us through haunting heartbreak and wild success.

About Denny S. Bryce

Denny S. Bryce is the best-selling, award-winning author of novels, “The Other Princess,” “A Face in the Sun,” “Wild Women and the Blues” and “Can’t We Be Friends: A Novel of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe,” co-authored with Eliza Knight. An NPR book critic, she is also an adjunct professor at Drexel University and a freelance writer who has written for Harper’s Bazaar and USA Today. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, Tall Poppy Writers and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

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Instagram: @dennysbryce

Twitter: @DennySBryce

Author Schedule:

Venue(s):

Gertrude Stein Pavilion

Presentation Start Time:

3:15 pm

Presentation End Time:

4:05 pm

Signing Time:

4:15 pm

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