We’re excited to let you know about the recent acquisition of The Firsts: The Women Who Shook Capitol Hill by acclaimed journalist Jennifer Steinhauer, which will chronicle the impact of the groundbreaking group of female legislators who were elected in the 2018 midterms.

The Firsts will tell the story of the newly-elected crop of representatives, including the first Muslim women, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman to be elected to the House, Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland, the first Native Americans in Congress, and others, all of whom will be arriving in Washington in January. This real-time observational narrative will focus on this historic group of women, who are already being so closely watched, to see if their impact can match their intentions. “We are in the midst of an extraordinary moment in the history of women’s political power,” says Steinhauer. “But will this group of women change Washington, or will Washington change them?”

Algonquin Editorial Director Betsy Gleick adds, “I have read Jennifer’s smart, keenly observed Washington reporting (not to mention her delightful food writing) for years, and can think of no one better to write this story from the inside. We are thrilled to be publishing this book.”

Steinhauer has covered numerous high-profile beats in her storied twenty-five year reporting career at the New York Times, from City Hall bureau chief and Los Angeles bureau chief to Capitol Hill. She won the Newswoman’s Club of New York Front Page Deadline Reporting Award in 2006 for her reporting on Hurricane Katrina. She has written a novel about the television business, and two cookbooks. The book is tentatively scheduled for publication in Fall 2019.