Nancy Bernhard, Author

Q&A with Nancy Bernhard about her new novel, THE DOUBLE STANDARD SPORTING HOUSE.
tinyurl.com/y3rjyhss
@nancybernhard.bsky.social

Feeling grateful today for all the launch day love for The Double Standard Sporting House.

Special thanks to everyone who came to last night's launch event, asked insightful questions, and of course @belmontbooks.bsky.social for being wonderful hosts.

Happy reading!

Today's the day: The Double Standard Sporting House is officially published!

Many thanks to She Writes Press for taking a chance on a story that defies categorization into a single genre, and everyone else who has supported the book on its road to today. I'm so grateful.

With love, Nancy

Irritable Heart: Treating Fictional Trauma Survivors in the 19th Century Author Nancy Bernhard discusses irritable heart, nostalgia, and more whilst treating fictional trauma survivors in the 19th century.

I wrote about how my 19th century characters would have understood trauma for Writers Digest.

Read the full piece: www.writersdigest.com/irritable-he...

The Double Standard Sporting House Watch now | Power, Survival, and Women’s History in 1860s New York

On #BigBlendRadio now, author Nancy Bernhard @nancybernhard.bsky.social discusses her novel "The Double Standard Sporting House," exploring women’s history, power, survival, and double standards in 19th-century New York. Podcast & Review: bigblendarts.substack.com/p/the-double... #HistoricalFiction

Thank you @marjankamali.bsky.social for the kind words about The Double Standard Sporting House, which comes out next week!

Order from your favorite independent bookstore, or anywhere else that sells books: www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Do...

The Double Standard's protagonist fights for women in 1868, and we are still fighting. Three essential reads on the war on women's reproductive rights today:
@irincarmon.bsky.social's Unbearable
@sarahweinman.com's Without Consent
@jessicavalenti.bsky.social's Substack "Abortion Every Day"

Join me for the launch of The Double Standard Sporting House on January 20!

Get a peek into the secret history of elite courtesans fighting a criminal syndicate trafficking girls, with discussion and Q&A at the wonderful @belmontbooks.bsky.social.

See you there?

Virtual event tomorrow with History Through Fiction and three other great authors! Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/whats-new-...

Each of these books is deep in the foundation of The Double Standard.

@melissafebos.bsky.social put words to many of my defining experiences; @salesses.bsky.social inspired a story structure that talks back to literary misogyny; Maria Tatar validated the choice to make my feminist heroine a healer.

Three weeks until publication day!

I'll be celebrating with a launch party at @belmontbooks.bsky.social on January 20. For those in the Boston area, I'd be thrilled for you to join me: belmontbooks.com/event/2026-0...

See you all in 2026.

In my research for The Double Standard Sporting House, I came across art and illustrations that give contemporary viewers a window into 19th century culture.

The Christmas Tree by James Stephanoff, 1850s, shows a sweet holiday celebration.

Wishing good holiday cheer to all!

Story and characters often resonate because they’re rooted in good history.

I wrote about some of the books that informed The Double Standard Sporting House for WOW Women on Writing: muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2025/12/frid...

How does society today resemble the time period and events in The Double Standard Sporting House?

Read more at Lit World Interviews: litworldinterviews.com/2025/12/08/a...

Need a gift for a reader?

Pre-order The Double Standard Sporting house and, for the holidays, you can give them a free bookmark and signed bookplate, plus the promise of a juicy read in the depths of January. Pre-order from your local bookstore, and request here:
www.nancybernhard.com/preorder-gift

Even in 2025, women are at a financial disadvantage. I wrote about the costs of being a woman over at GirlTalkHQ, from lost earnings and unpaid labor to additional expenses and even the time and energy spent avoiding violence.

www.girltalkhq.com/the-cost-of-...

Interview with Author Nancy Bernhard

Had a great conversation with Madigan on Your Angry Neighborhood Feminist about the double standards facing women throughout history, and still today. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or your other favorite podcast platform.
podcasts.apple.com/.../intervie....
open.spotify.com/episode/3AAC...

Thank you to Kirkus Reviews for the kind words about The Double Standard Sporting House. Read the full review on their website, and preorder now to read the book when it comes out in six weeks!

www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Do...

jessica.substack.com/p/ny-times-d...

Excited to announce my first novel is launching in three months! The women of an elite 1868 New York brothel fight a corrupt political syndicate victimizing girls. Sound familiar? #historicalfiction #bookstagram #books #historicalfictionbookstagram #feminist #feminism

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

"Academic freedom policies came from faculties, not the government. Governments are the enemies of academic freedom, not their protectors." Brilliant piece by @sivav.bsky.social about the Trump administrations' latest effort to censor universities newrepublic.com/article/2013...

The only thing conservatives protect harder than freedom napkins are lifelong pedophiles.

So Trump wants a grand jury to convene on Obama’s 2016 Russia investigation, but wouldn’t that be covered by the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity doctrine? 🧐

This is a better shot of the size of the crowd at Powder House Square for Rumeysa Ozturk. Less than 24 hours notice.

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

Who trusts these bozos with lunch, let alone national security?

What a loving piece

In 50 years, the section of high school history textbooks about this administration (if there are high schools or textbooks) will be called THE GREAT GRIFT

I taught it for years in a course on war correspondence

RFK Jr vaccinated his own kids while claiming they were unsafe. Thank you Caroline Kennedy

So where are the Avengers when you need them? I’d like to see the Hulk have a go at Hegseth