||| SUBMITTED BY DARVILLS BOOKSTORE |||
When Come Away From Her author Samuel W. Gailey decided to forego a traditional book tour for interviews and podcasts, he knew there would be one exception. “Orcas Island and our community were so important to the writing of this novel, I wanted to plan something special for fellow islanders,” says Gailey.
A post-read event will take place at The Black Box at Orcas Center on Saturday, March 4th, at 4pm. Free admission and no tickets are necessary.
Samuel’s previous books, Deep Winter and The Guilt We Carry, have been critically-acclaimed and described by The New York Times as “Beautifully written” and “Enthralling and suspenseful” by Esquire Magazine.
Come Away From Her is the first novel by Gailey to be written entirely on Orcas Island and is garnering as many positive reviews. The themes in the book include the power and resilience of community, the damage secrets can cause, and grappling with one’s faith.
The novel is a boldly written mystery suspense novel revolving around the arrival of Tess, a deaf woman running from her past, who unwittingly sets into motion a chain of disturbing events as she is forced to share her secrets with the strangers around her. Tess’s presence upsets the status quo amongst the residents of a small town, none more so than for Cap, the pastor of the local church whose life has been marred by tragedy. The morning a dead body is found outside the church, life as the town knows it is forever changed.
New York Times best-selling author William Kent Krueger describes it best: “In Samuel W. Gailey’s Come Away From Her, there is a murder. But that’s not the point of this beautifully written story. At the heart of the novel is an important question: How do we heal from the wounds of our past? Gailey offers a cast of characters so perfectly human in their frailties that we can’t help but feel for them deeply as they struggle toward forgiveness. Seldom does a book come along as lovely, poignant, and compelling as this one. Do your soul a favor. Read this novel.“
According to Gailey, “This novel could not have been written without the support of the Orcas Island community. Island locals Kathleen Tudor, Reverand David Evans, Andy Lynn, Guy Woods, Joe Theron, Alex Callen, Anglea Saxe, Theresa Marl, and Ayn Gailey, helped with research and feedback, and editing. The support of Darvill’s Bookstore and the Orcas Island Public Library has also been instrumental.”
Organizers will have curio objects from each character in the book on display with a fun guessing game to see who can guess which object goes with each character. If you’ve read the first quarter of the book you’ll be able to play. You’ll get to see new work from amazing local artists Susan Singleton and Kate Geddes, inspired by crows and ravens, which are visual symbols in the book. Local pastor Berto Gandara will be present to discuss issues that the main character of the book (also a pastor) struggles with, and Ayn Gailey will host the conversation with Samuel W. Gailey.
The Orcas Center graciously provided the venue for this special event. More info at www.samuelwgailey.com
