Watermark Books and Cafe

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Watermark Books & Café presents … the Penguin Author Series: a classic odyssey across the landscape of the finest fiction writers working today.

We are proud to present a one-of-a-kind series you won’t want to miss. In a partnership with Penguin Books, Watermark Books & Café is hosting four fiction writers who write the books we read today, works that are sure to be the classics of tomorrow. 

To buy tickets to these events, simply click on the author's name.

Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches

January 17, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

In a sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches became the "it" book of early 2011, bringing Deborah Harkness into the spotlight and galvanizing fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and the descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont. Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting story of magic and suspense.

Tier 1 ticket— $21 + tax per person; Tier 2 ticket—$26 + tax per couple; Tier 3 ticket—$16 + tax

Stewart O’Nan

The Odds

January 26, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

Stewart O'Nan's thirteenth novel is another wildly original, bittersweet gem like his celebrated Last Night at the Lobster. Valentine's weekend, Art and Marion Fowler flee their Cleveland suburb for Niagara Falls, desperate to recoup their losses. Jobless, with their home approaching foreclosure and their marriage on the brink of collapse, Art and Marion liquidate their savings account and book a bridal suite at the Falls' ritziest casino for a second honeymoon. While they sightsee like tourists during the day, at night they risk it all at the roulette wheel to fix their finances—and save their marriage. A tender yet honest exploration of faith, forgiveness and last chances, The Odds is a reminder that love, like life, is always a gamble.

Tier 1 ticket— $31 + tax per person; Tier 2 ticket—$36 + tax per couple; Tier 3 ticket—$26 + tax

T.C. Boyle

When the Killing’s Done

March 12, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

Principally set on the wild Channel Islands off the coast of California, T.C. Boyle's new novel is a gripping adventure with a timely theme. Alma Boyd Takesue is a National Park Service biologist spearheading the efforts to save the islands' native creatures from invasive species. Her antagonist, Dave LaJoy, is a local businessman who is fiercely opposed to the killing of any animals whatsoever and will go to any lengths to subvert her plans. As their confrontation plays out in a series of scenes escalating in violence, drama, and danger, When the Killing's Done relates a richly humane tale about the dominion we attempt to exert, for better or worse, over the natural world.

Tier 1 ticket— $21 + tax per person; Tier 2 ticket—$26 + tax per couple; Tier 3 ticket—$16 + tax

Geraldine Brooks

Caleb’s Crossing

May 17, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure.

The narrator of Caleb's Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex. As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island's glistening beaches and observe its native Wampanoag inhabitants. At twelve, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia's minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe's shaman, against whose magic he must test his own beliefs. One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite. There, Bethia finds herself reluctantly indentured as a housekeeper and can closely observe Caleb's crossing of cultures.

Tier 1 ticket— $21 + tax per person; Tier 2 ticket—$26 + tax per couple; Tier 3 ticket—$16 + tax

Watermark Books is honored to host such an esteemed group of authors and hopes you take advantage of the opportunity to welcome to Wichita some of the writers you love to read.

Ticket structure:

Tier 1 “Book Club” ticket includes:

1 book & 1 ticket per person

An author meet-and-greet with light snacks beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Reserved seating for the group

Book club swag

Tickets are limited

Tier 2 “Couples” ticket includes:

1 book & 1 ticket

1 extra ticket

2 coffees and dessert for 2

Tier 3 “Individual”  ticket includes:

1 book & 1 ticket

Purchase all four events as a series and receive 20% off.