When American Girl imagined the story of Samantha Parkington as an adult, the goal was to find an author who understood the world Samantha lived in. Samantha isn’t just a product of her time; she is also shaped by her experiences and the people around her. On one hand, she’s a wealthy orphan with the most beautiful clothes; on the other, she’s outspoken for the causes she cares about, from child labor and education to suffrage.

Samantha walks the line between privilege and activism, from the beautiful town of Mount Bedford to the bustling streets of Manhattan. For a story about a grown-up Samantha navigating history, family legacy, social change, and New York City, one name came up again and again: author Fiona Davis. 

Samantha Parkington is one of American Girl's most beloved historical characters. In 1904, when her stories begin, Samantha is a nearly ten-year-old orphan living with her grandmother, Grandmary, in a grand Victorian home after her parents died when she was five. By the time Samantha’s original six-book series ends, she is living in New York City with her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia and three adopted sisters. Throughout those books, Samantha gives a public speech against child labor, teaches less privileged children to read, pushes back against Grandmary's old-fashioned rules, and admires Cornelia's work for women's suffrage.

Samantha in 1904 represents many girls in a time of change, navigating both older Victorian expectations and new progressive ideals. By 1920, when Samantha: The Next Chapter begins, readers get to see how these changes have shaped the person Samantha has become at twenty-five.

In Samantha: The Next Chapter, it’s 1920, and twenty-five-year-old Samantha Parkington is working hard to educate New York women about suffrage and encourage them to vote in their first presidential election that fall. But when Samantha’s large inheritance, including her childhood Mount Bedford home, is stolen in a shocking scheme, she goes from socialite to shopgirl overnight and experiences a very different side of New York City while living in a women’s boardinghouse. As Samantha searches for clues to the theft of her inheritance, she infiltrates the world of a notorious New York criminal. With the same courage and determination readers loved in the original series, Samantha sets out to find answers and save her family's legacy.

Readers will see how Fiona Davis artfully deepens Samantha’s original personality, values, and world in a compelling narrative that showcases her life as an adult. Samantha's compassion becomes courage, her admiration for reform becomes civic action, and her love of home becomes a fight for legacy. More than ever, Samantha is the hero of her own story. 

Fiona Davis was a natural choice to write a book about adult Samantha because her novels are known for realistic, complex women set across eras of New York City history. It was important for us to partner with an author who would approach Samantha’s story with care and respect. Davis honored the legacy of Samantha Parkington and the connection generations of readers have with her while also allowing Samantha to grow into a woman with her own ambitions, losses, and dreams.

Davis says, “My hope is that reading Samantha: The Next Chapter  will be like reconnecting with a childhood friend, from the sweet nostalgia of shared adventures to the mutual wonder at the women you’ve become.”

Fiona Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of eight historical fiction novels set in iconic New York City buildings. She first came to New York as an actress but fell in love with writing after earning a master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and she’s based in New York City.

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