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We Meet Apart: A Discussion with Martha Conway

Featured Book

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We Meet Apart

When World War II halts ocean travel in 1940, two American sisters find themselves stranded in Ireland— but in different realities. In 18-year-old Gaby’ s world, Ireland remains neutral, just as history records. But in 17-year-old Sabine’ s world, Germany has invaded Ireland, and she must survive on the run. Both sisters find refuge at the same remote Irish manor owned by distant relatives. There, for one hour each dusk— ” the time of pookies and ghosts” in Celtic lore— their two worlds overlap, and they can be together again. But when Sabine falls in love with a German officer who is charming in her world but sinister in Gaby’ s, even that brief time is in danger. We Meet Apart evokes the dreamlike style of Haruki Murakami, revealing how thin the veil between worlds can be. It asks: If you lose the people you love in one world, how hard would you fight to keep them in another?

This book will be available for purchase at the event.

About This Event

The Book Stall is excited to welcome author Martha Conway to the store for a discussion featuring her new book, We Meet Apart. When World War II halts ocean travel in 1940, two American sisters find themselves stranded in Ireland-but in different realities. Christina Baker Kline calls it “a heart-pounding story of exile, sisterhood, and the resilience of the human spirit…Martha Conway brings the past to life in this story of two sisters, separated by war but determined to find each other. Haunting, suspenseful, and deeply affecting, We Meet Apart imagines a version of history in which the lines between safety and danger, belonging and exile, are constantly shifting.”

Featured Author

Martha Conway

Martha Conway is the author of several novels including The Underground River, which was a New York Times Book Editor’s Choice. Her novel Thieving Forest won the North American Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. Martha’s short fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, The Quarterly, Carolina Quarterly, and other publications. She has reviewed fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Iowa Review, and is a recipient of a California Arts Council fellowship in Creative Writing. In addition to writing, Martha is an instructor of creative writing at Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program. She received her BA from Vassar College in History and English, and her MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Born and raised in Ohio, she now lives in San Francisco with her family and a lumpy, lovable dog.

About the Venue

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The Book Stall

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