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Mary Alice Monroe, author of Where the Rivers Merge

1908: The Lowcountry of South Carolina is at the cusp of change. Mayfield, the grand estate held for generations by the Rivers family, is the treasured home of young Eliza. A free spirit, she refuses to be confined by societal norms. But the Great War, coastal storms and family turmoil bring unexpected challenges to Eliza, putting her on a collision course with the patriarchal traditions of a bygone era. 1988: At 88, Eliza is the scion of the Rivers/DeLancey family. She has fought a lifetime to save her beloved Mayfield and is too independent and committed to quietly retire and leave the fate of the estate to her greedy son. She must make decisions that will assure the future of the land and her family --- or watch them both be split apart.

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Ocean Vuong, author of The Emperor of Gladness

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, 19-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family and a community on the brink.

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Jeanine Cummins, author of Speak to Me of Home

On her wedding day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1968, Rafaela Acuña y Daubón has mild misgivings, but she marries Peter Brennan Jr. anyway in a blaze of romantic optimism. She has no way of knowing how dramatically her life will change when she uproots her young family to start over in the American Midwest, unleashing a fleet of disappointments. In the 1980s, against the backdrop of her mother’s isolation in St. Louis, Missouri, Rafaela’s daughter, Ruth, wants only to belong. Eager to fit in, Ruth lets go of her language, habits and childhood memories of Puerto Rico. It’s not until decades later when Ruth’s own daughter, Daisy, returns to San Juan that her mother and grandmother begin to truly reflect on the choices that have come to define their lives.

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June 2025 Bookaccino Live Signup

Links to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_f1aRddzBTFGNrlb_HVhmpw.

Colleen Cambridge, author of A Fashionably French Murder: An American in Paris Mystery

Fashion is returning to the forefront in Paris, as the somber hues of wartime are replaced by vibrant colors and ultra-feminine silhouettes, influenced by Christian Dior’s “New Look.” American expat Tabitha Knight and aspiring chef Julia Child join a friend for a private showing at an exclusive fashion atelier, Maison Lannet. The event goes well, but when Tabitha returns later that evening to search for a lost glove, she finds the lights still on --- and the couturier dead, strangled by a length of lace. The shop manager suspects that a jealous rival --- perhaps Dior himself --- committed the crime. Tabitha dismisses that idea, but when another body is found, it’s apparent that someone is targeting employees of Maison Lannet. It’s up to Tabitha to don her investigative hat and find answers before someone commits another fatal fashion faux pas.

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Beatriz Williams Event Signup

Links to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J2Odi50KQcW8Bq6bHyJqXw.

Anna Snoekstra

Anna Snoekstra is the author of ONLY DAUGHTER, LITTLE SECRETS, THE SPITE GAME and THE ONES WE LOVE. Her novels have been published in over 20 countries and 16 languages. She has written for many publications, including The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald and Crime Reads, and is a profile writer for The Saturday Paper. In 2023, she released her first audio drama, This Isn’t Happening.

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Marjan Kamali Book Group Event

Links to https://tbrnetwork.com/podcasts/bookreporter-talks-to/bookaccino-live-book-group-with-marjan-kamali/.

April 30, 2025

When we left off, my book group was planning to read LITTLE WOMEN as we wanted to discuss a classic. Confession: None of us finished it. We realized that we had picked the wrong book. I did not even have time to watch the movie! 

We all think that we are back on track for next month as we are reading THE STOLEN QUEEN by Fiona Davis. Fiona is a favorite among the group. Sometimes you have to admit when a good idea just did not work.

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Tina Knowles, author of Matriarch: A Memoir

Tina Knowles, the mother of iconic singer-songwriters Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Solange Knowles and bonus daughter Kelly Rowland, is known the world over as a Matriarch with a capital M: a determined, self-possessed, self-aware and wise woman who raised and inspired some of the great artists of our time. But this story is about so much more than that. MATRIARCH begins with a precocious, if unruly, little girl growing up in 1950s Galveston. As the realities of race and the limitations of girlhood set in, she begins to dream of a more grandiose world. Her life’s journey --- through grief and tragedy, creative and romantic risks and turmoil, the nurturing of superstar offspring and of her own special gifts --- is the remarkable story she shares with readers here.

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