SECRETS & SECOND CHANCES – FICTION

LOUIS BAYARD’s The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts revolves around a fateful summer in the life of famous playwright Oscar Wilde as he was exposed – and eventually imprisoned – for homosexuality. This poignant story is told from various perspectives, including that of his wife, who watches the intensity of Wilde’s relationship with another man threaten the foundation of their family’s life. MARGOT LIVESEY’s The Road from Belhaven: A Novel is the story of a young woman in 19th-century Scotland whose ability to see into the future complicates her coming-of-age. When faced with a seemingly impossible choice, she makes a terrible mistake – but her second sight may allow her a second chance. And in Old Crimes: and Other Stories, JILL MCCORKLE digs deep into the lives of conflicted, sympathetic characters holding secrets and struggling to figure out the meaning of their lives, from a young couple who buys a confessional booth for fun only to discover the cost of honesty to a woman who uses a hearing impairment to shield herself from her husband. Moderated by author MAMTA CHAUDHRY.

Buy The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts – Bayard

Buy The Road from Belhaven: A Novel – Livesey

Buy Old Crimes: and Other Stories – McCorkle