Author Event: Venessa Vida Kelley | WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON

Name: Author Event: Venessa Vida Kelley | WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON
Start: 2025-05-06T18:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-05-06T19:30:00-04:00
Location: Bards Alley Bookshop

Schedule

Tue May 06 2025 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Bards Alley Bookshop | Vienna, VA

Join us at Bards Alley for a discussion with author and illustrator Venessa Vida Kelley on their new release, WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON.
About this Event

Join us at Bards Alley for a discussion with author and illustrator Venessa Vida Kelley. They will be talking about their newest release with Erewhon Books, When the Tides Held the Moon, a romantic, historical fantasy set in 1910s New York City following a young Puerto Rican immigrant and his journey of love and self-discovery, complete with gorgeous illustrations by the author themself.

The event will take place at Bards Alley Bookshop in Vienna, VA on Tuesday, May 6th at 6:00PM. You may reserve a book under your name as an add-on, but additional copies will be available for purchase during the event, and Venessa will be signing copies after their discussion.

About the book:
Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds everyone, especially the eccentric side-show proprietor who commissioned it. Benny’s work earns him an invitation to join the show’s eclectic crew of performers—his first welcome in the city—and share in their astonishing secret: the tank Benny built is a cage for their newest exhibit, a living, breathing, in-the-flesh merman stolen from the banks of the East River under a gleaming full moon.

The merman is more than a mythic marvel, though. Benny comes to know Río as a clever philosopher, an observant traveler, and a kindred spirit more beautiful and compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.

A cage is no place for a merman to survive. Though releasing Río means betraying his new family, bankrupting their home, and losing his soulmate forever, Benny must look within for the courage to do what’s right, and find a love strong enough to free them both.