Mary Trump’s latest project is a romance novel—and she’s collaborating with E. Jean Carroll on it, the New York Times reports.
Trump, the niece of former President Donald Trump—and one of his most scathing critics—is writing The Italian Lesson, which she plans to release as a serial on Substack. Carroll, the former Elle advice columnist who recently won a $5 million civil judgment against Donald Trump, is acting as an adviser on the novel, with law professor Jennifer Taub editing.
Mary Trump, Carroll, and Taub met one another in a Zoom knitting circle during the pandemic. They told the Times that they had the idea to collaborate on a romance film screenplay, but after that fizzled, Mary Trump decided to try her hand at a novel instead.
Mary Trump is best known as the author of Too Much and Never Enough, the 2020 book about her family that refers to her uncle Donald as “the world’s most dangerous man.” Carroll was already a familiar name in journalism when, in 2019, she alleged that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store in the mid-1990s. Carroll sued Trump for defamation and sexual abuse, and last month a jury in New York found him liable.
The Italian Lesson will follow an American woman who meets a vineyard owner in Tuscany. Readers shouldn’t expect any material ripped from the headlines, though. “This is a no-politics zone,” Carroll told the newspaper. “We’re giving you an escape.”
The first installment of the novel will be published Friday on Substack, with more chapters coming throughout the year.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
