Julia Franks in conversation with Jessica Handler - The Say So
Sunday, Jun 11, 2023 3:00 PM
Location:
A Cappella Books
208 Haralson Avenue, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30307
From the award-winning author of "Over the Plain Houses" comes a major novel about two young women contending with unplanned pregnancies in different eras.
A Cappella Books welcomes novelist Julia Franks to discuss her latest book, "The Say So." Hudson will appear in conversation with fellow Atlantan Jessica Handler, award-winning author of "The Magnetic Girl."
This event is free and open to the public, and copies of "The Say So" will be available for purchase.
About the Book
Edie Carrigan didn't plan to "get herself" pregnant, much less end up in a home for unwed mothers. In 1950s North Carolina, illegitimate pregnancy is kept secret, wayward women require psychiatric cures, and adoption is always the best solution. Not even Edie's closest friend, Luce Waddell, understands what Edie truly wants: to keep and raise the baby.
Twenty-five years later, Luce is a successful lawyer, and her daughter Meera now faces the same decision Edie once did. Like Luce, Meera is fiercely independent and plans to handle her unexpected pregnancy herself. Along the way, Meera finds startling secrets about her mother's past, including the long-ago friendship with Edie. As the three women's lives intertwine and collide, the story circles age-old questions about female awakening, reproductive choice, motherhood, adoption, sex, and missed connections.
For fans of Brit Bennett's "The Mothers" and Jennifer Weiner's "Mrs. Everything," "The Say So" is a timely novel that asks: how do we contend with the rippling effects of the choices we've made? With equal parts precision and tenderness, Franks has crafted a sweeping epic about the coming of age of the women's movement that reverberates through the present day.
About the Author
Julia Franks is the author of "Over the Plain Houses," which was an NPR Best Book of 2016 and was awarded five literary prizes. She has published essays in outlets like the New York Times, Ms. Magazine, and The Bitter Southerner. While her roots are in the Southeast, she spent years teaching literature in the US and abroad. She lives in Atlanta.
About the Conversation Partner
Jessica Handler is the author of "The Magnetic Girl," winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize, an Indie Next selection, Wall Street Journal Spring '19 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer '19 pick, and SIBA Okra pick. She is the author of the nonfiction books "Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief" and "Invisible Sisters: A Memoir," which was named one of the "Books All Georgians Should Read" and Atlanta Magazine's "Best Memoir of 2009." Jessica's essays and nonfiction features have appeared on NPR, in Tin House, Drunken Boat, Full Grown People, Brevity, The Bitter Southerner, Electric Literature, Oldster, Newsweek, The Washington Post, and More Magazine. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, novelist Mickey Dubrow.
