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Author Talk: Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

May 4, 2023

When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed. That is the premise of Patti Callahan Henry’s latest historical novel, THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA --- which is an Indie Next pick for May, along with being this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites pick. In this interview, Patti talks about her extensive research for the book, what inspired her to center the novel on a bookstore, why she loves writing historical fiction, and the creation of “Friends and Fiction” --- a popular weekly web show, podcast and Facebook group that she founded with Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel and Kristy Woodson Harvey.

Kristin Hannah Event Art

April 29, 2023

About a half-dozen members of my book group are making plans to head up to Connecticut to hear Martha Hall Kelly talk about her new novel, THE GOLDEN DOVES, and enjoy a lilac festival in early June. We’ve wanted to put together an event like this for a while --- and given that we chatted with Martha virtually at one of our early meetings, this feels perfect. I missed the last meeting due to a conflict, and I see that I also am going to miss the May one for a work event on Zoom that evening. I seriously feel like I need a clone, and this is AFTER the years I spent commuting for 3-4 hours each workday. Somehow time still gets away. So our Sunday-in-June road trip is something to look forward to!

Laura Dave Book Group Event

J. Ryan Stradal, author of Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club

Mariel Prager’s husband, Ned, is having an identity crisis; her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day; and her mother, Florence, is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed. Ned is also an heir --- to a chain of home-style diners --- and knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance.

Joshilyn Jackson, author of With My Little Eye

For actress Meribel Mills, disturbing fan mail is part of the price of fame. So when she starts getting creepy letters written in fruit-scented marker, she is mostly unphased. But there’s something different about Marker Man. Meribel’s sheets smell of unfamiliar cologne, and objects have gone missing around the house. Plus, the letters have become more perverse, with drawings of a naked Meribel tied up or chopped into pieces. She and her daughter move from Los Angeles to Atlanta for a fresh start --- but no distance is great enough. She can feel eyes on her, a creeping sensation like bees inside her skin. And someone definitely has her in their sights. Could Marker Man have followed her all the way across the country?

Brendan Slocumb, author of Symphony of Secrets

Bern Hendricks is one of the world’s preeminent experts on composer Frederick Delaney. When Mallory Roberts, a direct descendant of Delaney, asks for Bern’s help authenticating a newly discovered piece, which may be his famous lost opera, he jumps at the chance. In 1920s Manhattan, Josephine Reed meets struggling musician Fred Delaney. Josephine is a natural prodigy who hears beautiful music in the sounds of the world around her. With Josephine as his silent partner, Delaney’s career takes off. In the present day, Bern and his tech-savvy acquaintance, Eboni, begin to uncover more clues that indicate Delaney may have had help in composing his most successful work. And they soon become caught in the crosshairs of a powerful organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden.

Emily Henry, author of Happy Place

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college. But they broke up five months ago and still haven’t told their best friends. This is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. The cottage is for sale, and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

Martha Hall Kelly, author of The Golden Doves

American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become known as the Golden Doves. When they are finally arrested and taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with their loved ones, a reclusive Nazi doctor does unspeakable things to Josie’s mother. And Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again. A decade later, the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: Josie is working for U.S. Army Intelligence and accepts an assignment to hunt down the infamous doctor, while a mysterious man tells Arlette he may have found her son. The Golden Doves discover a web of terrible secrets and must put themselves in grave danger to finally secure justice and protect the ones they love.

Editorial Content for Camp Zero

Book

Teaser

In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor and a mysterious collective of climate researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut.

Promo

In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor and a mysterious collective of climate researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut.

About the Book

In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor and a mysterious collective of climate researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut that “delivers its big ideas with suspense, endlessly surprising twists, and abundant heart” (Jessamine Chan, New York Times bestselling author).

In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is break­ing ground on a building project called Camp Zero, intended to be the beginning of a new way of life. A clever and determined young woman code-named Rose is offered a chance to join the Blooms, a group hired to entertain the men in camp --- but her real mission is to secretly monitor the mercurial architect in charge. In return, she’ll receive a home for her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother and herself.

Rose quickly secures the trust of her target, only to discover that everyone has a hidden agenda, and nothing is as it seems. Through skill­fully braided perspectives, including those of a young professor longing to escape his wealthy family and an all-woman military research unit struggling for survival at a climate station, the fate of Camp Zero’s inhabitants reaches a stunning crescendo.

Atmospheric, fiercely original and utterly gripping, CAMP ZERO is an electrifying page-turner and a masterful exploration of who and what will survive in a warming world, and how falling in love and building community can be the most daring acts of all.