Jane Louise Newhagen

Jane is the author of: Tales of Old Key West: Sand Dollar, Pieces of Eight, and Chambered Nautilus. They’re historical novels based around a house brought over from Green Turtle Cay in 1847 and the family that lived there. She was inspired to write the stories when she lived in the same house and served as the archivist of the Key West cemetery where they are buried. 

Here’s what Wally Lamb (author of She’s Come Undone) said about Chambered Nautilus:

“Lovers of the charms of modern Key West will find Jane Newhagen’s Chambered Nautilus: a tale of Old Key West a fascinating read. Newhagen’s carefully researched novel fuses a story about a sympathetic, humanly flawed heroine with rich period detail about the beloved island’s nineteenth century past. Stories that educate as they entertain are treasures. Chambered Nautilus is one.”

Jane also wrote short stories. Several of them have won awards from the Key West Writers Guild and have been published there and elsewhere. Her stories draw on her experiences in Key West, the Washington, D.C. area, and Paris, France, where she lived for many years.

After nearly two decades in Key West, Jane moved to the D.C. area. She looked back on her time in Key West with great nostalgia – but without any regrets for having escaped hurricane alley.