When an eleven year old\, whisky drinking\ , piano prodigy who encounters a wealthy family possessing supernatural be auty\, her ensuing obsession unleashes family secrets and a cataclysmic pl ague of cicadas.
\nThe summer of 1956\, a brood of cicadas descends upon Providence\, Georgia\, a natural event with supernatural repercussion s\, unhinging the life of Analeise Newell\, an eleven-year-old piano prodi gy. Amidst this emergence\, dark obsessions are stirred\, uncanny gifts pr ovoked\, and secrets unearthed.
\nDuring a visit to Mistletoe\, a pl
antation owned by the wealthy Mayfield family\, Analeise encounters Cordel
ia Mayfield and her daughter Marlissa\, both of whom possess an otherworld
ly beauty\, a lineal trait regarded as that \;Mayfield Shine. A whispe
r and an act of violence perpetrated during this visit by Mrs. Mayfield al
l converge to kindle Analeise&rsquo\;s fascination with the Mayfields.
Analeise&rsquo\;s burgeoning obsession with the Mayfield family overshad
ows her own seemingly\, ordinary life\, culminating in dangerous games and
manipulation\, setting off a chain of cataclysmic events with life-alteri
ng consequences&mdash\;all of it unfolding to the maddening whir of a cica
da song.
Books will be availa ble for sale and signing by \; The Book Bird of Avondale Estates.
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Registration is requested. \;
\n* By regis tering\, you consent to signing up for the monthly Adult Programs newslett er. \;
\nRobert Gwaltney\, 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel\, is a writer of Southern fiction. He resides in Atlanta Georgia where he is an active member of the Atlanta lit erary community. By day\, he serves as Vice President of Easter Seals Nort h Georgia\, Inc.\, Children Services\, a nonprofit supporting children wit h disabilities and other special needs. Robert&rsquo\;s work has appeared in such publications as The Southern Literary Review\, The Bl ue Mountain Review\, The Signal Mountain Review\, and Th e Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. Robert also is a contribut ing writer for Well Read Magazine and podcast host of Inside Voices. His debut novel\, The Cicada Tree\, was awarded the Somerset Award for literary fiction.
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Kimberly Brock will be moderating the talk. She is the bestselling author of The Fabled Earth\, The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare\, and The River Witc h\, which was honored with the Georgia Author of the Year Award in 20 13\, by the Georgia Writers Association. A former actor and special needs educator\, Kimberly received her bachelor&rsquo\;s degree from the Univers ity of West Georgia in 1996. In 2014\, Kimberly founded Tinderbox Writer&r squo\;s Workshop\, a transformative creative experience for women in the a rts. Kimberly has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and nationa l groups\, including The Women&rsquo\;s Fiction Writer&rsquo\;s annual con ference and The Pat Conroy Literary Center. A native of North Georgia\, sh e now lives near Atlanta\, Georgia.
\n\nPresented by Adult Se rvices.
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