- November 2024: The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-GarciaCancelled
Join event via Google Meets here: https://calendar.app.google/mMr7mpGTAQdtK92XA
Join us for an online meetup and discussion of The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. If buying a copy, consider using one of Raleigh's independent bookstores:
Quail Ridge Books link here and So & So books link here.
Amazon link here.About:
A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine — but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the author of Mexican Gothic.1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.
So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.
Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.
But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.
Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.
- January 2025: Black Cake by Charmaine WilkersonLink visible for attendees
Join us for an online meetup and discussion of Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. We'll be using Google Meets - you do not need a gmail to join, just click the link: https://calendar.app.google/arM7YpWfFwMdGHD68.
If buying a copy of the book, consider using one of Raleigh's independent bookstores:
Quail Ridge Books link here and So & So books link here.
Amazon link here.About:
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.