Toad Hall Editions authors Elizabeth Garber and Laura Bonazzoli will read from their forthcoming books.

The 11 linked short stories in Laura Bonazzoli’s debut collection, Consecration Pond, takes place on the shores of a pond in rural Maine. Among the narrators are a burn victim begs her husband’s ghost for forgiveness for failing to save him, a retired teacher counsels a reporter seeking easy answers to the cause of his neighbor’s death, and a boy whose self-imposed rite of passage nearly costs him his life. Together, the stories offer a meditation on the nature of wisdom, the risks and gifts of allowing ourselves to be seen, and the challenge of creating meaning in the wake of loss.

Elizabeth Garber’s Sailing at the Edge of Disaster: A memoir of a young woman’s daring year is the story of how a bookish teen and her younger brother are sent by their domineering father to “shape up” on a sail-training school ship, where they discover the rigors, joys, and triumphs of being at sea. As they scour the decks, learn to splice ratlines, and climb the rigging, they also survive an act of piracy, a near-sinking, and being held hostage by armed gunboats. The book chronicles a transformative year in the throes of late adolescence that leads to courage, grace, and a reclamation of selfhood.

Elizabeth and Laura will be joined by Belfast author Linda Buckmaster. The event is free, all ages welcome. Sponsored by Bayside Arts.