Last year’s authors were:
Louis Bayard
The School of Night
Henry Holt & Co.
An ancient mystery, a lost letter, and a timeless love unleash a long-buried web of intrigue that spans four centuries. In the late sixteenth century, five brilliant scholars gather under the cloak of darkness to discuss God, politics, astronomy, and the black arts. Known as the School of Night, they meet in secret to avoid the wrath of Queen Elizabeth. In modern-day Washington, D.C., disgraced Elizabethan scholar Henry Cavendish has been hired to find a missing letter that dates from the 1600s and was stolen by Cavendish’s closest friend. Louis Bayard is the author of Mr. Timothy, a New York Times Notable Book, and the national bestseller The Pale Blue Eye. A former staff writer for Salon.com, Bayard has written for The New York Times and the Washington Post. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Victoria Brown
Minding Ben
Hyperion/Voice
Minding Ben invites readers into the private world of one of the anonymous West Indian babysitters who have joined the lives of so many young urban families for decades. Grace left Trinidad for New York with hopes for a better life and education. As she now struggles to adjust to her new life — and to determine just what shape her American Dream will take — Grace finds work as a nanny, a job that pays meager wages for its demanding and humiliating responsibilities. Victoria Brown was born in Trinidad and at age sixteen came alone to New York, where she worked as a full-time nanny for several years. She majored in English at Vassar College before attending the University of Warwick in the UK. Eventually, Victoria returned to New York and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children. She employs a part-time nanny.
Meg Waite Clayton
The Four Ms. Bradwells
Random House
“It’s rare that I come across a book that I immediately want to give to my best friends. This is one of them: a heartwarming page-turner about smart women and the complicated nature of female friendships. By the end you’ll wish that you could join the Ms. Bradwells for lunch” (Katie Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Girls in Trucks and Men and Dogs). Meg Waite Clayton’s national bestseller The Wednesday Sisters was a word-of-mouth sensation and book club favorite. Now Clayton is back with a compelling novel that explores the secrets we keep, even from those closest to us, and celebrates the enduring power of friendship. A graduate
of the University of Michigan Law School, she lives in Palo Alto, California, with her husband and their two sons.
Michael Koryta
The Cypress House
Little Brown
A journey to Florida’s coast becomes an inescapable nightmare in the newest supernatural thriller from international bestselling author, Michael Koryta. When Arlen Wagner awakens on a train one hot Florida night and sees death’s telltale sign in the eyes of his fellow passengers, he tries to warn them. Only nineteen-year-old Paul Brickhill believes him, and the two abandon the train, hoping to escape certain death. They continue south, but soon are stranded at the Cypress House — an isolated Gulf Coast boarding house — directly in the path of an approaching hurricane. The storm isn’t the only approaching danger, though. A much deadlier force controls the county and everyone living in it, and Arlen wants out — fast. From its chilling beginning to terrifying end, The Cypress House is a story of relentless suspense from “one of the best of the best” (Michael Connelly). Koryta’s work has been translated into nearly twenty languages. A former private investigator and newspaper reporter, he is a graduate of Indiana University.
Elena Mauli Shapiro
13, rue Thérèse: A Novel
Little Brown/Reagan Arthur
In this imaginative, sensual story of a Parisian woman’s life, a young American scholar and translator working at a university in Paris makes an intriguing discovery: he finds a box filled with objects dating back to WW I that once belonged to Louise Brunet. His fascination with the box’s contents — postcards, handkerchiefs, love letters, and other vintage keepsakes — leads him to imagine what Brunet’s life in Paris might have been. Shapiro was born and raised in Paris, in an apartment below the real-life Louise Brunet’s. She has a BA from Stanford University in English and French, an MFA in Fiction Writing from Mills College, and an MA in Comparative Literature from UC Davis. “I love the story of where this story came from — and will look forward to reading the story itself!” (Meg Waite Clayton).
For further information, please email chgbooks@me.com
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Book & Author Benefit Authors’ Reception
The Home of Kelly & Steve Bodner
Friday, April 15, 2011
Book & Author Benefit Luncheon
Indiana Roof Ballroom
Dear Christamore House Guild, Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Getting to participate in the Book & Author Luncheon was on of my favorite experiences in my 26 year writing career. You all made us feel so special and welcome…To share the stage with such exquisite writers was a personal thrill. Best of all, though, was the chance to meet so many wonderful people working so hard to further this important cause. There is no event quite like the one you all have put on for the last 30 years. I’ll tell all my writer friends that they should pray to one day be invited to participate. Thank you again. Best wishes, Peter Hedges
Peter Hedges is the critically acclaimed author of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. He also wrote and directed Dan in Real Life and was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay About A Boy.
