Past Imperfect
with Janika Oza and Paul Harding
Hosted by Sara Mang
In Person Fiction
In boldly lyrical prose, This Other Eden shows us a once-thriving racial utopia in its final days, at a time when race and science were colliding in chilling ways. In the stories of the Apple Islanders, we are made to confront the ambiguous nature of mercy, the limits of tolerance, and what it means to truly be saved. A luminous, thought-provoking novel.
Author Sara Mang hosts an afternoon with two acclaimed authors whose work tackles the pull of the past and the ways history permeates our lives and shapes the future.
A saga of colonialism and exile, complicity and resistance, Janika Oza’s A History of Burning, is a radiant debut about the stories our families choose to share—and those that remain unspoken. Four generations. Three sisters. One impossible choice. Spanning India, Uganda, England, and Canada, it is the story of how one act of survival reverberates across generations.
The latest from Paul Harding, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers, is This Other Eden, a novel inspired by the true story of Malaga Island, an isolated island off the coast of Maine that became one of the first racially integrated communities. In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, discovered an island where they could make a life together. More than a century later, the Honeys’ descendants remain on Apple Island. Then comes the intrusion of “civilization.”
PLEASE NOTE: For the safety and comfort of all patrons, masks are strongly encouraged for those attending in person this Spring. Livestream tickets are available upon request for those who prefer to attend remotely.
Books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.
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