Event Recap: The Lotus Eaters

Tatjana Soli, whose debut novel, The Lotus Eaters, has received great reviews (including an strong endorsement from Nancy) was at Kepler's Wednesday night.

Kepler's Event Coordinator, Pam, wrote a lovely recap of the event for us:

It was a great event for a debut fiction writer, Tatjana Soli. Meg Clayton (author of Wednesday Sisters) is a friend of Tatjana's from a writing workshop at Sewanee. Meg hosted a delightful pre-event reception that included her 12-person book club. She made bread from scratch, Vietnamese ginger cookies, and the best prawns (Vietnamese-style) I've ever tasted.

Tatjana became interested in the Vietnamese war at a very early age. Her mom, who lives in Santa Cruz and came to the event, is Austrian (Tatjana was born there) and was a NATO translator. She corresponded with many friends who spent time in-country during the war- Tatjana was raised with these stories. The book is incredibly well researched, even though she hasn't ever been to Vietnam (she and her husband are eagerly anticipating their first trip this November.)

Tatjana is a beautiful writer - and reader - and has blogged for Well-Read Donkey. I believe the book will do very well, and it's received great reviews - from Janet Maslin at the NY Times, for one.

Our lovely buyer Aggie took a photo of friends Soli and Clayton at the event: