AUTHOR TALK: Roberta Downs

Presented at the Fishers Island Library August 6, 2025, author Roberta Downs shares the remarkable true story behind her debut historical novel The Man Who Slept with the Mona Lisa: A Historical Novel Based On Memory.

A captivating evening of art, history, and storytelling. Blending fact and memory, Downs tells the extraordinary true story of her stepfather, Gerald Van der Kemp—French Resistance hero and former Curator of Versailles—through multiple voices, including the Mona Lisa herself.

A Bryn Mawr graduate and world traveler, Downs is currently working on her second book.