UPDATE: Kristin Harmel is generously donating a prize package to be given out during this event! It includes a “Forest” tote, a burgundy leather Kate Spade card holder, a “Forest” art card, a “Forest” bracelet, a “Forest” keyring, and two Harmel-themed koozies. One of the attendees at the event will be randomly chosen to win this package. You must be registered to attend and be present throughout the event.

Join us for a conversation with New York Times bestselling author Kristin Harmel, as she discusses her latest book, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything. Joining Kristin is Kristyn Kusek Lewis, author of Perfect Happiness, for a discussion on “How fiction can change lives.”

After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest—and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything.

Kristin Harmel is the author of a dozen novels including The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, The Room on Rue Amélie, and The Sweetness of Forgetting. She is also the cofounder and cohost of the popular web series, Friends and Fiction. She lives in Orlando, Florida.

Kristyn Kusek Lewis is the bestselling author of the novels Half of What You Wear, Save Me, and How Lucky You Are. Her most recent novel, Perfect Happiness, was published in 2020. Half of What You Hear was nominated for the 2019 Library of Virginia Literary Award in Fiction and both Save Me and How Lucky You Are reached #1 on Barnes and Noble’s Top 100/Bestselling NOOK Books. Kristyn is also the Contributing Books Editor for Real Simple magazine, where she writes the monthly “What Should I Read Next?” page. She previously held editing positions at publications including Glamour and Child, and is a well-established freelance writer who has written for dozens of publications over the past twenty-five years. Kristyn is a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she earned an MFA in creative writing, and the College of the Holy Cross. She lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her family.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of their book from Browseabout Books by clicking HERE. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website. Each copy purchased comes with a signed bookplate.

NOTE: this meeting is being conducted through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER to receive instructions for joining the meeting.

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Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here. Closed captioning is available for this session. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.