Program
6:30: Wine Reception
7:00: Conversation begins
8:00: Book signing
New York Times bestselling author and Man Booker Prize finalist Karen Joy Fowler returns with Otter Music, a luminous, emotionally resonant story of a marine researcher grappling with whether ecosystems—and people—can truly be saved, set along the shimmering Santa Cruz coast.
About the Book
“Beautifully lucid writing that captures the human ability to care. In Karen Joy Fowler's capable hands, hope for the future is alive and well.”—Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
Lainey Miller spends her days studying endangered wildlife and her nights worrying about the slow unspooling of democracy. An introverted marine researcher studying sea otters, Lainey feels reasonably happy with the post-divorce life she’s made for herself in Santa Cruz until her beloved niece says with careful casualness: Mom thinks you don’t have any fun.
But who can have fun in a world where everything feels on the brink of collapse? Lainey’s brother jokes about her obsession with “perils”; but as wildfires rage, sea levels rise, and people seem content to bury their heads in the sand, Lainey’s world feels increasingly unpredictable. In gorgeous vignettes, Otter Music shares Lainey’s efforts to discover if she’s brave enough to want more from her own life.
Sparky, wise, and disarmingly funny, Karen Joy Fowler’s new novel explores ways to find hope in the simple things—even amidst chaos—and how we might all summon the fortitude to move into the awaiting future with love, courage, and kindness, to ourselves and the planet.
About the Speakers
Karen Joy Fowler is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including Booth, which was longlisted for the Booker; We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, which was the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize; and The Jane Austen Book Club. She lives in Santa Cruz, California.
Yangsze Choo is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghost Bride (now a Netflix original series) and The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club Pick, and a Big Jubilee Read selection for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. She lives in California with her family and loves to eat and read (often at the same time). The Fox Wife and all previous novels would not have been possible without large quantities of dark chocolate.
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