What happens when American Girl writes its own fan fiction? On this episode, I’m joined by Margaret Hartmann of New York magazine to dig into Fiona Davis’s Samantha: The Next Chapter. The novel finds Samantha Parkington at 25 in 1920, grieving Grandmary and fighting for her inheritance, with a choice to make between two very different men. Along the way, we take stock of American Girl at 40: Bratz collabs, the Claudie books, and why the brand keeps confusing nostalgia with history. We also get into the book’s surprisingly political Looking Back section on voting rights, and pitch the Samantha sequels we’d write ourselves. Spoilers (and laughs) ahead.
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Timestamps
- 00:00 Welcome to Landline
- 01:51 Margaret’s American Girl story (and memorizing the catalog)
- 05:39 Samantha vs. Molly
- 08:46 Sagamore Hill and the art of the house tour
- 10:56 Is American Girl having a midlife crisis?
- 24:05 Into the book: 1920, suffrage and Fiona Davis
- 30:11 The Harlem scene and the limits of the white savior
- 44:59 Class, money and Samantha’s empathy
- 54:39 Looking Back 1920 and the fight for voting rights
- 1:05:13 Our alternate plotlines, and who should get the next chapter
Transcript
Full episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wfGBNYDaC6YUZWXgvU9c7hgPScQOAtpUwpO8OJ9W7cM/edit?usp=sharing
Resources
- Samantha: The Next Chapter by Fiona Davis, also on Bookshop.org
- Author Spotlight: Fiona Davis, American Girl
- Mattel Marks 40 Years of the American Girl Brand, Business Wire, February 2026
- From Socialite to Shopgirl: American Girl Samantha Gets a New Story, NPR via Connecticut Public
- Meet Claudie by Brit Bennett, and the Claudie series
- Rachel by Angelina Weld Grimké, free on Project Gutenberg
- Carrie Chapman Catt, National Park Service, and Woodlawn Cemetery, where she’s buried with Mary Garrett Hay, from NYC LGBT Historic Sites
- Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, nps.gov/sahi
- Henry Street Settlement, henrystreet.org
- League of Women Voters, lwv.org
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- Website: https://landlinewithmary.com/
Connect with Me:
- Website: http://www.marymmahoney.com
- Instagram: @mimimahoney
- Email: [email protected]
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney
Connect with my Margaret:
Read Margaret’s article on American Girl: https://www.thecut.com/article/samantha-next-chapter-american-girl-book-adults.html
You can read Margaret’s writing for New York here: https://nymag.com/author/margaret-hartmann/
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