In ‘Liberty’s Torch,’ Brooklyn writer revives statue’s history
Brooklyn BookBeat: Elizabeth Mitchell Reveals How Brooklyn Benefits her Nonfiction Writing
The Statue of Liberty was not a gift from France to the United States.
In her third nonfiction book, “Liberty’s Torch”, longtime Brooklyn resident and Williamsburg-based author Elizabeth Mitchell dispels this fallacy. Mitchell also divulges that the statue’s form was originally conceived of for Egypt in conjunction with the design of the Suez Canal.
Through her portrait of the statue’s creator, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and her careful examination of his journey to build the colossus now known as the Statue of Liberty, Mitchell brings to life a gripping adventure story with the French sculptor — the story’s tempestuous hero — at its center.