Just got word that Diana Gabaldon, author of the fabulously successful “Outlander” series, will hold a free reading at the Salem Public Library on October 5 at 12:30 p.m.
The catch? Well, the mid-day event scheduling may pose a problem for some of you, but if a woman can be a 20th century time-traveling nurse married to a 17th century Scottish Highlander (the premise of her series), I’m pretty sure you can wrest some time away from your cubicle over lunch to sit at the feet of Ms. Gabaldon, probably the biggest-name author to read in Salem in a while.
Yes, the tickets are free. But the library will start doling them out at the reference desk beginning September 1, with a limit of four per customer.
Gabaldon first came on my radar when I was living in Germany, where her books are ubiquitous bestsellers and she is much more of a household name.
This new book, An Echo in the Bone — the seventh in the Outlander series out of nine planned — is a narrative juggling act of an epistolary novel. She’s got the usual: time-traveling wife, romance and conflict across centuries, cameos from historical figures. But she adds to the mix letters that tell the story of the wife’s parent’s love story.
Sounds like a wormhole to me. I’m game for climbing in.
Either way, I’m stoked for the event.
