About Scott 

Scott Turow, a writer and former practicing lawyer, is the author of thirteen bestselling works of fiction, including Presumed Innocent and Suspect. Mr. Turow has also published two nonfiction books  including One L about his experience as a law student. His books have been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into movies and television projects. He has frequently contributed essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

Read Scott Turow’s new “unputdownable"** courtroom drama from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent, the phenomenon that redefined the legal thriller and is the basis for Apple TV+’s most-watched drama series ever.

**Kristin Hannah, #1 NYT bestselling author

“This is manna for legal-thriller fans.”―Booklist, starred review
“An absorbing and entertaining read.” ―Kirkus

“This easily ranks among Turow’s best.”―Publishers Weekly, starred review

Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail.

 
Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder.
 
Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is in fact innocent—it’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Photo credit: Audrey Snow Owen

About the Luncheon

• Books: Registrants will pick up their books at the luncheon.
• Guests: Non-members are welcome to attend up to two luncheons per season. Members may bring with them an unlimited number of non-member guests, as long as the guests, individually, abide by the above Non-member Guest policy.
  
• Registration: Pre-registration is required. 
• Payment: Pre-payment is required.
• Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be allowed for cancellations received after registration closes, and no-shows.

Created 11/15/2024

About Geraldine

Geraldine Brooks is the author of six novels, including Horse, People of the Book, Year of Wonders, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning March. She has also written acclaimed works of nonfiction, including Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Her writing has been translated into over 25 languages and has collectively sold millions of copies around the world. Born and raised in Australia, Brooks now divides her time between Sydney and Martha’s Vineyard.

Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz – just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy – collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.

After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at the beach. But all of this ended abruptly when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf.

Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. In a shack on a pristine, rugged coast she often went days without seeing another person. There, she pondered the various ways in which cultures grieve and what rituals of her own might help to rebuild a life around the void of Tony’s death.

A spare and profoundly moving memoir that joins the classics of the genre, Memorial Days is a portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love between souls that exquisitely captures the joy, agony, and mystery of life.

Publisher: Viking

Photo credit: Randi Baird

About the Luncheon

• Books: Registrants will pick up their books at the luncheon.
• Guests: Non-members are welcome to attend up to two luncheons per season. Members may bring with them an unlimited number of non-member guests, as long as the guests, individually, abide by the above Non-member Guest policy.
  
• Registration: Pre-registration is required. 
• Payment: Pre-payment is required.
• Cancellation Policy: Refunds will not be allowed for cancellations received after registration closes, and no-shows.

Created 12/12/24

Noon on Saturday, March 22

EMMA DONOGHUE

The Paris Express

Noon on Friday, April 11

KATIE KITAMURA

Audition

As of 10/2/2024