One Book One Wallingford: Meet Author Monica Wood

Meet Monica Wood as she discusses her newest novel How To Read a Book. Copies will be available for purchase and signing. Register for a seat or Zoom link!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Set in Portland, Maine, How to Read a Book opens during a book club meeting in a women's prison. The attendees are all inmates, and their discussions are filled with dark humor and sorely-tested compassion. One of the club's most engaging members is a young woman named Violet, who has been convicted of manslaughter for the drunk driving accident that caused a woman's death. Soon, we are introduced to the woman's widower, a handyman named Frank who works at an independent bookstore in the city that is frequented by foster cats and the prison book club's leader, a retired English teacher named Harriet. After Violet is released from prison, Harriet helps her to make a fresh start, and she stumbles into a job working as an assistant at a research lab focused on the cognitive abilities of African gray parrots. But Violet still has to face Frank and the ramifications of the tragedy she helped to cause. 2024's How to Read a Book was a national bestseller. The New York Times described the novel as "a reminder that goodness, and books, can still win in this world." and Kirkus calls it "a finely wrought story, beautifully told, with deeply memorable characters."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Monica Wood is a novelist, memoirist and playwright and the 2024 recipient of the Sara Josepha Hale award for excellence in New England literary arts. She is the author of four earlier novels: My Only Story (2000), Secret Language (2002), Any Bitter Thing (2005) and The One in a Million Boy (2016). She is also the author of the memoir When We Were the Kennedys, which won the May Sarton Memoir Award and the Maine Literary Award, and the short story collection Ernie’s Ark (2002). Her widely anthologized short stories have won a Pushcart Prize and been featured on public radio. She also writes books for writers and teachers. She lives in Portland, Maine, with her husband, Dan Abbott, and their cat Susie.

This is a hybrid program; patrons have the option of attending in-person at Dag Hammarskjold Middle School or virtually on Zoom. 

ATTEND VIRTUALLY: 

• To join on your computer or mobile device, click: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84747734414 
• To join by via phone, dial (929)-205-6099. When prompted, enter the following Meeting ID: 847 4773 4414 and Passcode: 870369