Virtual Author Event: Susan Conley "Landslide"

Description

In Maine author Susan Conley’s new book “Landslide,” a mother cares for her two teenage sons after a fishing accident leaves her husband hospitalized across the border in Canada. The book, which is set in the fictional town of Sewall, based on Phippsburg, Maine, focuses on a fishing family caught between tradition and change. Join Conley for a virtual author talk on Thursday, March 18 at 7 p.m. with the Jesup Memorial Library. 
 
In “Landslide” Jill is left to look after her teenage boys—“the wolves”—alone. Nothing comes easy in their remote corner of Maine: money is tight; her son Sam is getting into more trouble by the day; her eldest, Charlie, is preoccupied with a new girlfriend; and Jill begins to suspect her marriage isn’t as stable as she once believed. As one disaster gives way to the next, she begins to think that it is not enough to be a caring wife and mother anymore—not enough to show up when needed, to nudge her boys in the right direction, to believe everything will be okay. With remarkable poise and startling beauty, “Landslide” ushers readers into a modern household where, for a family at odds, Instagram posts, sex-positivity talks, and old fishing tales mingle to become a kind of love language. It is a beautiful portrait of a family, as compelling as it is moving, and raises the question of how to remain devoted when the eye of the storm closes in.
 
Christina Baker Kline, author of “Exiles” and “A Piece of the World” writes, “‘Landslide’ is a powerful portrait of a woman trying to hold herself and her family together in a moment of crisis. With startling clarity, Susan Conley captures the heartache, elation, intensity, and joy of motherhood and charts the emotional life of teenaged boys.” Author Judy Blue writes “I loved ‘Landslide.’ You are right there feeling the wind, the sea, the danger. Smart, honest, and funny, this is a story you won't forget.”
 
Conley is a fourth-generation Mainer with roots in Phippsburg and Woolwich. She is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her previous novel, “Elsey Come Home,” was a Most Anticipated/Best Book at Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Amazon, Pop Sugar, Huffington Post, Southern Living, Fodors, and others. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Harvard Review, and others. She’s been awarded multiple fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, as well as fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, The Maine Arts Commission, and the Massachusetts Arts Council. Conley has won the Maine Book Award and the Maine Award for Publishing Excellence. She’s on the faculty of the Stonecoast MFA Program and is co-founder of the Telling Room, a youth writing center in Portland, Maine.
 
This event is co-sponsored by Sherman’s Books and copies of Conley’s books are available at any of their locations, online at shermans.com or by calling 207-288-3161. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link for this event. To register fill out the form at jesuplibrary.org/events/conley or email kchagnon@jesuplibrary.org.