Wrote The House on Fortune Street

Margot Livesey, author of six novels including her latest, “The House on Fortune Street” (May 2008), will speak at Beebe Library on Wednesday, June 4, at 7 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.

Her previous novels include “Homework,” “Criminals,” “The Missing World,” “Banishing Verona” and “Eva Moves the Furniture.”

“The House on Fortune Street,” centers on Dara, a therapist, and Abigail, an actress. After meeting while in college, they remain close friends years later, despite their differences.

Abigail confidently uses her charms both on and off stage, but is reluctant to make commitments. Dara, on the other hand, throws herself into every relationship with frightening intensity. Both young women seem to have found “true love” – Abigail with her academic boyfriend, and Dara with a tall, dark violinist.

Soon, however, trouble – in the form of an anonymous letter – threatens both relationships and their friendship. Meanwhile, a reconciliation between Dara and her distant father reawakens complicated childhood feelings.

Publisher’s Weekly called “The House on Fortune Street” “Absorbing…The pieces cross-reference and fit together seamlessly.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, “It’s a work that lingers long after the last page is turned.”

Kirkus Reviews said, “The House on Fortune Street” is “moving, gruffly tender and piercingly truthful.”

Margot Livesey grew up in a boys’ private school in the Scottish Highlands where her father taught and her mother was the school nurse. After earning her B.A. in English and philosophy at the University of York in England, she spent most of her twenties working in shops and restaurants and learning to write. Her first book, a collection of stories called “Learning by Heart,” was published in 1986.

Ms. Livesey is currently a distinguished writer in residence at Emerson College and the John F. and Dorothy H. Magee writer in residence at Bowdoin College. She lives with her husband, a painter, in Cambridge, MA.

Following her talk, Ms. Livesey will be happy to sign copies of her book. Refreshments will be available.

Ms. Livesey’s appearance is sponsored by The Friends of the Library.

To reserve your seats for this program, phone 781-246-6334, x2.

Categories: Adult Programs,Library News
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