An Evening With Alice McDermott on Absolution

American women have been mostly minor characters in the literature of the Vietnam War, but in Alice McDermott’s Absolution they take center stage. Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence; Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. In 1963 Saigon, the two form a wary alliance as they balance the era’s mandate to be “helpmeets” to their ambitious husbands with their own inchoate impulse to “do good” for the people of Vietnam. Sixty years later, Charlene’s daughter reaches out to Tricia and together they look back at their time in Saigon, revisiting that pivotal time and discovering how their own lives as women on the periphery – of politics, of history, of war, of their husbands’ convictions – have been shaped and burdened by the same sort of unintended consequences that followed America’s tragic interference in Southeast Asia. Moderated by VIRGINIA HARTMAN, author of The Marsh Queen: A Novel.

As a special welcome to this year’s Fair, Miami Book Fair is offering this Evenings With program FREE to all fairgoers. When securing your tickets for this session, kindly consider making a donation to MBF to support our work and your Miami literary community. 

This is a ticketed event that includes free access to this program as well as the weekend Street Fair, where you’ll find literary events, live music, children’s activities, booksellers, local artisans, and gourmet delights! For information on how to access all MBF24 programs, visit MiamiBookFair.com.

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