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Image for event: A Conversation with Melanie Benjamin

A Conversation with Melanie Benjamin

In-Person

2024-03-21 19:00:00 2024-03-21 20:00:00 America/Chicago A Conversation with Melanie Benjamin The Urbana Free Library - Busey-Mills Reading Room

Thursday, March 21
7:00pm - 8:00pm

Add to Calendar 2024-03-21 19:00:00 2024-03-21 20:00:00 America/Chicago A Conversation with Melanie Benjamin Meet historical fiction author Melanie Benjamin as she discusses her newest novel California Golden and what inspires her. An audience Q&A and a book signing will follow the discussion. The Urbana Free Library - Busey-Mills Reading Room

The Urbana Free Library

Busey-Mills Reading Room

Meet historical fiction author Melanie Benjamin as she discusses her newest novel California Golden and what inspires her. An audience Q&A and a book signing will follow the discussion.

Set in the 1960s, Benjamin's latest novel, California Golden, focuses on sisters Mindy and Ginger who feel abandoned by their mother as she attempts to become one of the first female surfing legends. Feeling neglected and overlooked, the sisters start to search for communities of their own sending them down separate paths. While spotlighting motherhood, family, and generational trauma, the book also explores surf culture, Hollywood parties, and cults. Entertainment Weekly called it "A shimmering rendering . . . pairs the surf culture of the Beach Boys with the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll of Daisy Jones & The Six. "

Melanie Benjamin is the author of The New York Times and USA Today bestselling historical novels The Swans of Fifth Avenue, about Truman Capote and his society swans, The Aviator’s Wife, a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and Mistress of the Ritz, based on the true story of the American woman who ran the Ritz during World War II, catering to the Nazi occupiers by day while working for the Resistance by night. Her novels have been translated in over fifteen languages, featured in national magazines such as Good HousekeepingPeople, and Entertainment Weekly, and optioned for film.

Melanie is a native of the Midwest, having grown up in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she pursued her first love, theater. After raising her two sons, Melanie, a life-long reader (including being the proud winner, two years in a row, of her hometown library’s summer reading program!), decided to pursue a writing career. After writing her own parenting column for a local magazine, and winning a short story contest, Melanie published two contemporary novels under her real name, Melanie Hauser, before turning to historical fiction.

This event is generously sponsored by The Urbana Free Library Foundation.

AGE GROUP: | Seniors | Adults |

EVENT TYPE: | Adult |

TAGS: | authors@UFL |

The Urbana Free Library

Phone: 217-367-4057

Hours
Mon, Apr 21 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Tue, Apr 22 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Wed, Apr 23 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Thu, Apr 24 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Fri, Apr 25 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sat, Apr 26 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sun, Apr 27 1:00PM to 5:00PM

About the library

Conveniently located at the corner of Race and Green in downtown Urbana.

Upcoming events

Sat, Apr 26, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sun, Apr 27, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - Busey-Mills Reading Room,Library Gallery

Sun, Apr 27, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Apr 28, 9:00am - 12:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Mon, Apr 28, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, Apr 28, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Mon, Apr 28, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - MacFarlane-Hood Reading Room

Tue, Apr 29, 10:00am - 10:25am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, Apr 29, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Wed, Apr 30, 9:30am - 10:30am
Cooperative Nursery School

Wed, Apr 30, 2:30pm - 4:20pm
Urbana Middle School

Wed, Apr 30, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Wed, Apr 30, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Yankee Ridge Elementary School

Thu, May 01, All day
The Urbana Free Library - Children's Area

Thu, May 01, 10:00am - 10:30am
The Urbana Free Library - Megan's Reading Room

Thu, May 01, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Thu, May 01, 3:45pm - 4:45pm
Orchard Downs

Thu, May 01, 5:00pm - 8:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Fri, May 02, All day
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, May 03, All day
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, May 03, 10:00am - 12:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Cherry Alley

Sat, May 03, 11:00am - 11:45am
The Urbana Free Library - Children's Area,Megan's Reading Room

Sat, May 03, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Cherry Alley

Sat, May 03, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Online

Sun, May 04, All day
The Urbana Free Library - Children's Area

Sun, May 04, All day
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sun, May 04, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Busey-Mills Reading Room

Mon, May 05, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - Busey-Mills Reading Room,MacFarlane-Hood Reading Room

Cancelled
Mon, May 05, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
The Urbana Free Library

Tue, May 06, 8:00am - 3:30pm
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School

Tue, May 06, 10:00am - 10:25am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, May 06, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, May 07, 9:00am - 12:00pm
The Urbana Free Library

Wed, May 07, 10:30am - 11:30am
Prairie Winds of Urbana - Dining Room

Wed, May 07, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Wed, May 07, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, May 07, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, May 08, 9:00am - 12:00pm
Thomas Paine Elementary

Thu, May 08, 10:00am - 10:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, May 08, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Fri, May 09, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Urbana High School

Sat, May 10, 10:00am - 11:00am
Sola Gratia Farm

Sat, May 10, 11:00am - 11:45am
The Urbana Free Library - Megan's Reading Room,The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, May 10, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, May 12, 9:00am - 2:30pm
Leal Elementary

Mon, May 12, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, May 12, 12:30pm - 4:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, May 12, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Tue, May 13, 9:00am - 2:30pm
Leal Elementary

Tue, May 13, 10:00am - 10:25am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, May 13, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, May 13, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - Online

Tue, May 13, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Wed, May 14, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, May 15, 10:00am - 10:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, May 15, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sat, May 17, 8:00am - 12:00pm
Urbana's Market at the Square

Sat, May 17, 11:00am - 12:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Cancelled
Sun, May 18, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library

Sun, May 18, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, May 19, 9:30am - 11:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Mon, May 19, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - MacFarlane-Hood Reading Room

Tue, May 20, 10:00am - 10:25am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, May 20, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Tue, May 20, 6:00pm - 8:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - MacFarlane-Hood Reading Room

Wed, May 21, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Satterthwaite Conference Room

Wed, May 21, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, May 22, 10:00am - 10:30am
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, May 22, 3:00pm - 5:30pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Thu, May 22, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
St. Matthews Church

Sat, May 24, 8:00am - 12:00pm
Urbana Farmer's Market

Sat, May 24, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
The Urbana Free Library - The Lewis Auditorium

Sun, May 25, All day
The Urbana Free Library