COME ONE, COME ALL:

Tonight at Brooklyn Reading Works: Nancykay Shapiro and Stefania Amfitheatrof read their fiction. At the Old Stone House in JJ Byrne Park on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets at 8 p.m. Refreshments and book signing.

A powerful debut novel in the tradition of Ann Patchett and Michael Cunningham, about a young man whose denial of his past nearly destroys the new life he seeks.

    Once safely out of Nebraska, Seth McKenna does everything he can to erase his oppressive hometown and abusive childhood, leaving his sister Cassie behind to fend for herself. Seth is making a new life for himself as an artist in New York when he falls hard for an alluring older man who is astonished to find in Seth the second love of his life. The couple’s relationship is complicated by Cassie’s unexpected arrival with significant secrets and plans of her own. Now Seth must confront his past and the consequences of the lies he’s told to move forward in his life.

    A gorgeous whirlwind of a family drama and an emotional, sexy love story, What Love Means To You People is rich with the atmosphere of New York and a cast of irresistible characters.

    "A powerful debut novel- smart, sexy and highly readable. NancyKay Shapiro’s characters are subtly observed and movingly human." —REGINA MCBRIDE, author of The Marriage Bed

    "Profound and moving. Shapiro dares to reimagine suffering and takes us on a journey to love and back. Seth McKenna will get under your skin. I am touched." —ABHA DAWESAR, author of Babyji

    "NancyKay Shapiro’s debut is a powerful and knowing look at what can happen to love when the past bubbles up into the present. Elegantly written, this is a moving and surprising novel that doesn’t let you go." —KATHARINE WEBER, author of The Little Women, The Music Lesson, Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear