Winnetka indie shop, The Book Stall (811 Elm Street), is excited to host bestselling author Mary Beth Keane (Ask Again, Yes) on Tuesday, May 9 at 7:00 PM for an in-store discussion about her new book, The Half Moon, a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who must navigate the complexities of marriage, family, and longing. In The Half Moon, readers will find the same emotional precision, glorious prose, and the working-class, Irish-Catholic suburban setting as in Ask Again, Yes. In this novel, however, the timeline is condensed, rather than writing about relationships over decades, she takes a close look at a couple over the course of one week in winter. Mary Beth Keane will be happy to sign her book! 
 
This is a ticketed program. Tickets include a copy of the book, and options include a ticket that admits two people (with one book) or one person with one book. To purchase your tickets, please visit our website or CLICK HERE.
 
More About the Book: Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but he struggles to stay afloat. His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.

In the course of one week, Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place. With a deft eye and generous spirit, Keane explores the disappointments and unexpected consolations of midlife, the many forms forgiveness can take, the complicated intimacy of small-town living, and what it means to be a family.
 
Booklist, in a starred review, says, “Keane explores the sacrifices of a marriage, setting Malcolm's impulsive deal to buy the bar he loved against Jess's consuming dream of parenthood…the tension is undeniable and deeply compelling… charming, tautly-paced, and introspective.”
 
More About the Author: Mary Beth Keane attended Barnard College and the University of Virginia, where she received an MFA. She was awarded a John S. Guggenheim fellowship for fiction writing, and has received citations from the National Book Foundation, PEN America, and the Hemingway Society. She is the author of The Walking People, Fever, and Ask Again, Yes--a New York Times bestseller and a Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Summer Reads Pick. Ask Again, Yes has been sold in twenty-two languages. She lives in New York with her family. You can find out more about her HERE.