Tova Mirvis & Cynthia Weiner
view optionsCynthia Weiner, A Gorgeous Excitement: A Novel
Inspired by a true story, We Would Never is “an intellectual mystery—part whodunit, part whydunit, and heavy on the complexities of family dynamics, asking: How far would you go to protect those you love?” (The Boston Globe). No one appears more surprised than Hailey Gelman when she comes under suspicion for the murder of her soon-to-be ex-husband Jonah. Hailey—nicknamed Sunshine by her mother for her bright outlook and ever-present smile—has always tried to do what is expected of her and is regarded as the family peacemaker. But is anyone, including Hailey, who she has always seemed to be?
The months leading up to Jonah’s death have been fraught, including a bitter separation and a messy custody battle over their young daughter, Maya. When Hailey files a motion to relocate to Florida so she can be near her family, Jonah retaliates and the divorce begins to spiral dangerously out of control.
Sherry, Hailey’s mother, will stop at almost nothing to keep Jonah from getting what he wants. Nate, Hailey’s impetuous and protective older brother, has tried to keep his distance, but he can’t stand to see his little sister suffer. And then there’s Solomon, the patriarch, who is keeping a secret that threatens the stability and security Sherry has worked so hard to maintain. Soon, they are forced to reckon with who they are as individuals and as a family, and just how far they will go for each other.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tova Mirvis is the author of The Book of Separation, a memoir, as well as three novels, Visible City, The Outside World and The Ladies Auxiliary which was a national bestseller. Her essays have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Poets and Writers and Good Housekeeping, and her fiction has been broadcast on National Public Radio. She lives outside of Boston.
CYNTHIA WEINER, A Gorgeous Excitement: A Novel
One young woman’s summer of infinite possibility takes a turn she never saw coming in “this 1980s coming-of-age tale [that’s] chillingly compelling. Get ready to be transported.”—People (Best Books of the Month)
AN OPRAH DAILY BEST NEW THRILLER • A TOWN & COUNTRY AND CRIMEREADS MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK
There are two things Nina Jacobs is determined to do over the summer of 1986: avoid her mother’s depression-fueled rages, and lose her virginity before she starts college in the fall. Both are seemingly impossible—when her mother isn’t lying in bed for days, she’s lashing out at Nina over any perceived slight. And after a blowjob gone spectacularly wrong, Nina is the talk of Flanagan’s, the Upper East Side bar where young Manhattan society congregates. It doesn’t help that she’s Jewish, an outsider among the blue-eyed blondes who populate this rarified world. She can fit in, kind of, with enough alcohol and prescription drugs stolen from her parents’ medicine cabinet.
Flanagan’s is where she pines for the handsome, preppy, and charismatic Gardner Reed. Every girl wants to sleep with him and every guy wants to be him. After she’s introduced to cocaine, Nina plunges headlong into her pursuit of Gardner, oblivious to the warning signs. When a new medication seemingly frees her mother from darkness, and Nina and Gardner grow closer, it seems like Nina might finally get what she wants. But at what cost? Freud called cocaine “a gorgeous excitement,” but a gorgeous excitement for the wrong guy can be lethal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cynthia Weiner has had a long career writing and teaching fiction. Her short stories have been published in Ploughshares, The Sun, and Epiphany, and her story, “Boyfriends,” was awarded a Pushcart Prize. She is also the assistant director of The Writers Studio in New York City. A Gorgeous Excitement, her first novel, was inspired by her upbringing on New York’s Upper East Side in the 1980s, and particularly by the notorious “Preppy Murder” of 1986. Weiner now lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.
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All sales are final. Tickets and books are non-refundable.
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date
Tova Mirvis & Cynthia Weiner
Monday, 11.03.2025 - 11.03.2025 (1 session)
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time
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm |
location MJCCA Zaban Park | fee Member: $15, Community: $20 | age 18 - 110 Years | code #58864 | Buy Tickets |
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