Tess Callahan "Dawnland" in Conv. w/ David Hicks

East End Books Ptown presents: Tess Callahan "Dawnland" in Conv. w/ David Hicks "The Gospel According to Danny" 6/26 at 6pm. Ptown bookstore.

*****Watch the Livestream at East End Books Ptown Page Here:

Note: The event may start a few minutes late as the in-person crowd gets seated...

On a fated summer getaway in Cape Cod, two families on the verge of fracture contend with the secrets of the past in a powerful and moving novel by the author of April & Oliver.

April, her brother-in-law Oliver, and their families reunite in Cape Cod on an exquisite stretch of beach called Dawnland. After eleven summers of building traditions―kayaking, whale watching, bonfires, and ocean swims―this year comes with new threats both on and off the coastline.

Before their marriages, April and Oliver had an intense but disastrous fling that they kept hidden. Although they moved on with their lives, their more recent fiery encounter is getting harder to keep secret―especially as the week unravels, revealing fault lines not only between husbands and wives but between brothers, fathers and sons, and children growing up amid discord and lies. Ground zero for conflict is April’s volatile teenage son, Lochlann.

The family structure begins to teeter. Secrets are surfacing. As everyone faces the consequences of their choices, the truth could finally forge them together or tear them apart forever.

"The Gospel According to Danny" by David Hicks

"A motormouth Philip Roth." Matt Bell, author of Appleseed

At the dawn of the new millennium, Danny Gausepohl seems to have it all: a marriage to his college sweetheart, Lia Adams-a middle-class Jewish academic-, a steady job as head waiter at The American Bistro near the Bronx, and his first home in Brewster. But the stability he's built is fragile. Missteps, betrayals, and a devastating school shooting upend his world, unraveling everything he holds dear.

Meanwhile, the nation itself is in turmoil. The Columbine massacre, the contested Bush/Gore election, and the tragedy of 9/11 mark the beginning of a new, fractured America. Over the next fifteen years, Danny is forced to navigate personal and national upheaval, struggling to hold onto his identity as a hardworking husband and father. But when that identity is ripped away, he faces his greatest challenge yet: reinventing himself in a country that no longer feels like home.

The Gospel According to Danny is a deeply human story about love, fatherhood, and the cost of a divided nation, perfect for fans of Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, and We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. As Danny grapples with the loss of his values, beliefs, and sense of self, he must ask: Is there anything-or anyone-left to come home to?

Tess Callahan is the author of April & Oliver. Her essays and stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Writer’s Digest, National Public Radio, AGNI, Narrative Magazine, AWP: The Writer’s Notebook, Newsday, The Common, the Best American Poetry blog, and elsewhere. Her TEDx talk on creativity is titled “The Love Affair Between Creativity and Constraint.” Tess is a graduate of Boston College and Bennington College Writing Seminars and teaches creative writing and meditation. A dual citizen of the United States and Ireland, she lives with her family and number one life coach: her dog. For more information, visit www.tesscallahan.com.

David Hicks

David Hicks is the author of the novel-in-stories White Plains, a finalist for the Colorado Book Award and Westword's #1 book by Colorado authors; and The Magic Ticket, an autobiographical children's book. An award-winning professor and recipient of two Fulbright scholarships (Czech Republic 2020 and 2022), David is also the founding director of the Regis University MFA in Creative Writing and current director of the nationally ranked Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University. He and his wife Cynthia are the founders of Electric City Writers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where they live with their demonically charming dog Louie. Visit david-hicks.com.

Host or Publisher East End Books Ptown