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Family Dynamics: Nuanced Novels about Falling Apart & Coming Together

12:15 PM - 1:00 PM

Sunday, November 17

Capitol Extension Room: E2.010 (1100 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701)

Narratively haunting and stylistically enrapturing, Jami Attenberg and Alison B. Hart craft messy, nuanced, and transformative books full of family drama and intense connection. Split down the middle following the loss of each family's central patriarchal figure, the two novels trace the messy, afflicted existences of the remaining family members as they flounder between the individual lives they've chosen and the shared history that binds them. A Reason to See You Again begins in the 1970s and spans over 40 years, as sisters and mother attempt to reconcile personal fulfillment with their troubled past. In April May June July, four estranged siblings clash in the lead-up to a family wedding, their reunion complicating the disappearance of their father as well as their personal struggles. In this panel, join Attenberg and Hart as they explore the delicate ways that family can destroy, steady, and ultimately envelope us.