Update: Listen to Diane Chamberlain speak with Ben Steelman about why the eugenics program in North Carolina interested her as a subject to engage in her latest novel. She also speaks in this clip about the process of bringing her concept to her publisher. It's an interesting insight into Chamberlain's writing process:
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Join Ben Steelman of StarNews, WHQR, and Diane Chamerlain for light refreshments and a discussion of the author's new book Necessary Lies.
September 9th, 7 - 8pm
in WHQR's MC Erny Gallery
254 N. Front Street, Third Floor
About the book:
After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm. As she struggles with her grandmother’s aging, her sister’s mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give. When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County’s newest social worker, she doesn’t realize how much her help is needed. She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients' lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband. But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm—secrets much darker than she would have guessed. Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong.
Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy. Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it’s wrong?
“This enthralling novel transfixed me from the very first pages.” —Christina Schwarz, New York Times bestselling author of Drowning Ruth
More info on Diane Chamberlain and her work found at DianeChamberlain.com