As the inaugural Carol Troxell Reader, Lisa Ko (The Leavers) gives a solo reading at New Dominion Bookshop, sharing her story of a mother and son, their heartrending separation, and the choices they each make in attempts to belong, to find love, to create a family.
Why should you attend?
Ko’s highly-acclaimed debut novel received the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver for a novel that addresses issues of social justice.
“There was a time I would have called Lisa Ko’s novel beautifully written, ambitious, and moving, and all of that is true, but it’s more than that now: if you want to understand a forgotten and essential part of the world we live in, The Leavers is required reading.” —Ann Patchett, author of Commonwealth
“Here is imperative reading: a vivid fictional exploration of what it means to belong and what it feels like when you don’t… Ko gives us an unsparing portrait of the resilience and grit it takes to risk everything to break free of tradition and start over in a foreign land.” —O, The Oprah Magazine (Favorite Books of 2017)
“Ambitious… Lisa Ko has taken the headlines and has reminded us that beyond them lie messy, brave, extraordinary, ordinary lives.” —New York Times Book Review
This event is part of the 2018 Virginia Festival of the Book. A full schedule of events is available here.