Kravitz And Sons

For decades, Frankfurter Buchmesse has been one of the biggest meeting places for the international publishing world. What started in 1949 with around 200 publishers has grown into a global event where publishers, authors, agents, media professionals, and creative industries come together to share ideas, make deals, and discover what is next for books and storytelling. Today, the fair is considered one of the world’s leading places for printed and digital content.

The fair is valuable because it brings so many parts of the publishing world into one place. It is not only about books on shelves, but also about rights, translations, new partnerships, technology, and the people behind the stories. The 2026 Frankfurter Buchmesse will take place in October, with Czechia serving as the Guest of Honour under the theme “A Country on the Coast.” The programme will include more than 100 literary and cultural events, with 75 Czech authors expected to take part.

With so many countries, voices, and ideas meeting in one place, Frankfurt has become a space where a book can travel far beyond where it first began. That makes this fair a special place for authors who want their stories to reach new readers and new parts of the world.

Among the stories making that journey is The Madness of March: A Love Story by Marguerite Nardone Gruen. The book follows two highly recruited Division II basketball point guards, Paul Tanner and Nicky Newman, as friendship, fame, bad choices, and love begin changing their lives, exploring tragedy, hope, kindness, friendship, and love while giving readers a story that moves from college basketball and young romance into family, second chances, and the lasting effect of the past. Before we turn the page and look deeper into the book itself, let’s first get to know the author behind it.

At the center of The Madness of March: A Love Story are Paul Tanner and Nicky Newman, two highly recruited point guards brought together at the University under Coach Bob Barrows. Both arrive with huge expectations, but their friendship quickly becomes much more than a basketball partnership. Nicky sees Paul as a brother, while Paul becomes someone Nicky feels responsible for protecting. Their bond becomes especially important because Nicky has already lost his own brother David to a drug overdose.

Paul, however, begins losing control of his life. Fame, parties, drinking, drugs, and relationships pull him further away from the person he could have been. Things begin to change when he meets Maggie Sardo at a campus party. Maggie is not part of Paul’s usual world, and their relationship forces him to look at the choices he has been making. Around them are friends and family members who become part of their journey, including Maggie’s friends Jeanine, Judy, and Molly, Coach Bob and Olivia Barrows, and Nicky’s family.

What starts as a college basketball and love story grows into something much bigger. Paul and Maggie build a life together, while Nicky also finds his own path with Elizabeth. The story moves through marriage, family, basketball seasons, children, old habits, painful surprises, and the return of problems from the past. By the later chapters, the next generation is also connected to the basketball tradition started by their fathers. The book ultimately brings its focus back to the idea that the past can follow people for years, but love, friendship, family, and the willingness to change can still shape what comes next.