Renée Carlino + Julia Stiles: This Used to Be Us

Join us for an event with bestselling author Renée Carlino for a discussion of her latest novel This Used to Be Us. Joining Renée in conversation is actor and director Julia Stiles. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

Can’t make the event?

STRAND IN-PERSON EVENT COVID-19 POLICY:

Masks and vaccination checks are not required for entry.

Attendees are welcome to wear a mask if they choose. If you do not have a mask and would like one, The Strand will provide masks at the door.

Please note this is subject to change any time before or during the event per the author’s request.

ACCESSIBILITY:

Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at [email protected] by July 5th to request.

Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact [email protected]

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There are two sides to every love story—and every breakup. Get ready for an emotional roller coaster of family, marriage, and divorce that will have you both laughing and crying, from the bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers.

“Hilarious, unnervingly relatable, romantic, and heartbreaking in the best way.”—Julia Stiles

“This book is a gut-punch to the feels.”—Karina Halle, New York Times bestselling author

After twenty-two years together, Danielle and Alex are getting a divorce. Once fiercely in love, they can barely stand the sound of each other’s voice. Instead of shuttling the kids between two broken homes, Alex and Dani decide to share a nesting apartment while swapping days with their two teenage boys at the family home.

In the apartment, Dani and Alex, on their own, begin to reflect on the last two decades—why they fell in love and why the marriage fell, spectacularly, apart. With the newfound space and time, they are given a chance to rediscover their autonomous selves again. They both get back in the dating pool. Dani finds major success at work as a showrunner on her own TV project, while Alex faces the challenges of a new relationship.

Still, they find that they just can’t stay away from each other, and somehow, the distance allows them to remember (for the first time in years) what each used to love about the other. When a family crisis draws them back into each other’s orbit, Dani and Alex are once again put to the test, which leads to a dramatic conclusion that will have readers weeping.

Renée Carlino is a screenwriter and the bestselling author of Sweet Thing, Nowhere But Here, After the Rain, Before We Were Strangers, Swear on This Life, and Wish You Were Here, which was optioned for film with Julia Stiles directing. She lives in San Diego with her two sons.

Julia Stiles just wrapped production on her feature directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, which she adapted for the screen from Renée Carlino’s bestselling novel. As an actress, she will next be seen in Chosen Family opposite Heather Graham, who also wrote and directed the indie feature. She can currently be seen as a series regular on Amazon’s The Lake, opposite Jordan Garvais and Madison Shamoun. She can also be seen leading the feature films Orphan: First K*ll, a prequel to the highly successful film Orphan, in The God Committee opposite Kelsey Grammer, and in STX’s highly acclaimed feature film, Hustlers starring opposite Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B. She also starred in and executive produced the Sky Atlantic hit show, Riviera. 

For her work on Showtime’s hit Dexter opposite Michael C. Hall, Julia received Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations. Additional credits include: Trouble directed by Theresa Rebeck and opposite Anjelica Huston; The Drowning opposite Josh Charles; Jason Bourne, directed by Paul Greengrass and opposite Matt Damon; Blackway opposite Anthony Hopkins; and Misconduct opposite Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins; The Great Gilly Hopkins, Silver Linings Playbook, Closed Circuit, It’s a Disaster, Between Us, Mona Lisa Smile, The Omen, State & Main, The Business of Strangers, O, Save The Last Dance, and 10 Things I Hate About You. She recurred on Fox’s The Mindy Project, and starred in Blue on Hulu for the WIGS Network, for which she also wrote and directed the series Paloma.

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