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Event
An Evening with Anita Shreve, presented by the Friends of the Elm Grove Library
The Friends of the Elm Grove Library, in conjunction with Boswell Book Company and the Elm Grove Library, present an evening with the wonderful Anita Shreve, beloved author of "The Pilot's Wife" and "The Weight of Water." Shreve has charmed Milwaukee-area audiences over many years, first with her visits to the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops and then at Boswell Book Company, and were excited to welcome her back. Her new novel is set during the Great Maine Fire of 1947, the largest in the state's history, and features Grace Holland, a young mother trapped in a loveless marriage.
Tickets are $18 and include a paperback copy of "The Stars Are Fire." Tickets are also available at the Elm Grove Library.
In October 1947, Grace Holland is experiencing two simultaneous droughts. An unseasonably hot, dry summer has turned the state of Maine into a tinderbox, and Grace and her husband, Gene, have fallen out of love and barely speak. Five months pregnant and caring for two toddlers, Grace has resigned herself to a life of loneliness and domestic chores. One night she awakes to find that wildfires are racing down the coast, closer and closer to her house. Forced to pull her children into the ocean to escape the flames, Grace watches helplessly as everything she knows burns to the ground. By morning, her life is forever changed: she is homeless, penniless, awaiting news of her husbands fate, and left to face an uncertain future in a town that no longer exists. With courage and stoicism, Grace overcomes devastating loss and, through the smoke, is able to glimpse the opportunity to rewrite her own story.
Whether historical or contemporary, Shreves heroines, from "The Weight of Water" and "The Pilots Wife," on through "Stella Bain" and her current novel. Here's what reviewers said about "The Stars Are Fire."
Long before Liane Moriarty was spinning her 'Big Little Lies,' Shreve was spicing up domestic doings in beachfront settings with terrible husbands and third-act twists. She still is, as effectively as ever, this time with a narrative literally lit from within. Mary Pols, -"The New York Times Book Review"
Precise, evocative prose brings the storys vivid characters to lifeoriginal and gripping. "People"
Anita Shreves books are reliably engrossing literary page-turners, never formulaicShreve consistently creates complex characters and plots, often drawn from the historical record or from obscure headlinesThen she tells their stories in unobtrusively elegant prose. Kate Manning, "The Washington Post"
Anita Shreves novels have sold more than six million copies and have been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives with her husband in New Hampshire.
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LocationElm Grove Woman's Club (View)
13885 Watertown Plank Rd
Elm Grove, WI 53122
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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