Chapter 10 - Murder At The Book Festival

So another Savannah Book Festival is in the books. In early February my daughter Claire and I attended the festival which was moved a weekend earlier for this year (and also next). There were so many authors we wanted to see and Savannah, of course , is the ideal place to be in early February. We couldn't have been more blessed with the weather as the sun was shining all weekend with temps in the mid-70's. One of the most difficult decisions after the authors are announced is deciding who to see. While we try to stay together for most of Saturday's activities often two authors we want to see are talking during the same time slot so we need to split up.

If you've not been to this festival here is how it is structured. On Thursday night there is an opening night speaker generally a well known author. In the past it has been someone like David Baldacci or James Patterson. Anna Quindlen (One True Thing) opened the Festival. This is a paid event. On Friday they have a keynote speaker. This year it was Sebastian Junger of The Perfect Storm fame. On Sunday there is a closing event - the speaker this year was Ben Mezrich, a writer of both fiction and nonfiction books. The best part for the booklovers like me (and probably you) is Saturday where there are up to 45 authors at 7 different venues around historic downtown Savannah. This event is entirely free and readers get to hear their favorite authors talk about their books and inspiration. Some of the discussions are humorous, some poignant, some scary but all them give readers a better understanding of books and authors.

Here are the people we saw at the Festival. As always, I try to read the authors' latest books before I go.

Diane Foley/Colum McCann - American Mother - I really didn't discover these authors until days before the event but something about Diane Foley's name rang a bell for me. As I dug a little more I realized that she was the mother of James Foley, a freelance journalist who was beheaded by ISIS. This was recorded and shown on several news media sites. One of the jihadists who committed this atrocity pled guilty and gave evidence against his cohort. As part of the plea he was asked to speak to the families of those hostages (4 in all) who were killed. This is Diane Foley's story - before, after, and during that meeting.

Claire Lombardo - Same As It Ever Was - I so enjoyed The Most Fun We've Ever Had, the previous book of Lombardo's I've read, so I knew I had to read her latest and hear her talk. In Same As It Ever Was, Elizabeth, the protagonist of the story, meets a woman from her past. This meeting sends her into a reflection on the choices she has made and how her life is. The author pointed out is that we/society struggle(s) with messy people, messy women in particular. Real life is messy, especially when we don't know the backstory.

Liz Moore - God Of The Woods - Liz Moore's novel is about a disappearance of a teenager from a summer camp, the same camp where her older brother disappeared years before. Moore's inspiration came from her childhood memories of her family's cabin in the Adirondacks. In 1892 the Adirondacks was made a national park which was good for the park but working class people who owned property were generationally harmed by the event. God of the Woods dwells somewhat on this area of moral complexity. It is also a mystery.

Valerie Bauerlein - The Devil At His Elbow - Valerie Bauerlein is a Wall Street Journal journalist who writes on Southern local news. She got a phone call from a higher up at the Journal asking if she knew about the case of Parker Convenience Stores being sued for selling liquor to a minor. While she knew about it, it was not a big case for her to follow. She was told to go to South Carolina and get more information on the story and that is where the Murdagh murder trial starts to build. As she got deeper and deeper into the story, it became like a horror movie as Alex Murdagh committed more and more crimes to keep his embezzlements quiet. One of the things Bauerlein said in her talk was that Alex Murdagh was a "chilling liar".

Have you ever been to a book festival? If so, who did you see?