Joyce Maynard to Launch New Novel at The Music Hall

WRITERS IN THE LOFT PRESENTS
The New York Times Bestselling Author 
of Labor Day and The Good Daughters

Joyce Maynard

Launching her new novel

AFTER HER

Tuesday, August 20, 7pm

“..a page-turning mystery, wrapped in 
a beautifully rendered story of sisterhood...  
Books this compelling just don't come around very often.”
—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author  

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, July 16, 2013: On Tuesday, August 20, 2013, The Music Hall’s Writers in the Loft series welcomes Joyce Maynard, the New York Times bestselling author of Labor Day, The Good Daughters, and At Home in the World. Maynard, a Durham, NH native, returns home to launch AFTER HER, her haunting new novel of sisterhood, sacrifice, and suspense. In addition to presenting her novel, Maynard will participate in a moderated  Q&A session followed by a book signing and meet-and-greet. The event will be held at the Music Hall Loft at 131 Congress Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 

Loosely inspired by the Trailside Killer case that terrorized Marin County, California, in the late 1970s, AFTER HER is a coming-of-age murder mystery that focuses on the relationship between two young sisters – Rachel and Patty – and their father, the detective in charge of the case, whose life slowly unravels as he is unable to locate the killer. Maynard blends suspense with nostalgia as Rachel, now in her forties, looks back on the summer of 1979 and the events that destroyed her father’s career and altered their lives forever. 

“I'm thrilled to report – for my many New Hampshire friends – that I'll be celebrating the book's actual publication day on the New Hampshire seacoast where I grew up, with a reading and talk,” writes Maynard on her website. While AFTER HER is set near Maynard’s current home in Northern California, many of her previous novels take place in her home state of New Hampshire, including To Die For, The Good Daughters, andLabor Day (which has recently been made into a film starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, scheduled for release in December).  

ABOUT THE BOOK

AFTER HER is a story of two sisters––Rachel and Patty––who live at the base of the mountain where the “Sunset Strangler” starts his reign of terror, and whose father is the charming, but chronically unfaithful, chief homicide detective charged with finding the killer. In true Maynard style, we are let into the lives of the young girls as they grapple with the aftermath of their parents’ divorce and, as young women turn up dead, Rachel and Patty witness the sad defeat of their father who is never able to crack this one, career-destroying case. 

Thirty years later, still haunted by the belief that the killer remains at large, Rachel constructs a new strategy to smoke out the Sunset Strangler and vindicate her father—a plan that unexpectedly unearths a long-buried family secret. 

Part thriller, part love story, and part family narrative, AFTER HER is a poignant, suspenseful tale that traces a young girl’s first explorations of sexuality, the loss of innocence, the bond of shared sisters, and the tender but damaged relationship between a girl and her father. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joyce Maynard is a native of Durham, NH, and has been a reporter for the New York Times, a magazine journalist, a radio commentator, and a syndicated columnist, as well as the author of six novels, including To Die For, Labor Day, and The Good Daughters, and four books of nonfiction. Her bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, has been translated into eleven languages. Labor Day has been adapted for film by Academy Award-nominated director Jason Reitman, starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, and is set in New Hampshire. Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. 

TICKETS

The ticket package for Writers in the Loft: Joyce Maynard on Tuesday, August 20, at 7pm is $40.25 ($37.25 for members). In addition to a reserved seat, the package includes a copy of the hardcover book AFTER HER ($25.99), a bar beverage, and book signing meet-and-greet. Packages can be purchased through The Music Hall Box Office, located at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, over the phone at 603-436-2400 or online atwww.themusichall.org.  

WRITERS IN THE LOFT SERIES SPONSOR:  Citizens Bank

MUSIC HALL SEASON SPONSORS: River House Restaurant and Carey & Giampa Realtors  

ABOUT THE MUSIC HALL

The Music Hall is a performing arts center featuring curated entertainment from around the world in two theaters in its downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire campus - one, a landmark 1878 Victorian theater, designated an American Treasure for the Arts by the US Senate, the other the intimate Music Hall Loft around the corner, recently named "best performing arts venue" by Yankee Magazine and the recipient of the NH AIA award for design excellence. Acclaimed signature series bring top authors and artists to both stages, while HD broadcasts and independent film fill both screens. A radio show broadcast on NH Public Radio originates here. This dynamic arts center urges patrons to Explore + Learn via master classes, post film panel discussions, and matinees for children. An anchor cultural organization in this historic working seaport, The Music Hall is one of downtown Portsmouth’s biggest employers and largest contributors to the regional economy: The Music Hall and its patrons contribute $7 million annually to the local economy through show and visitor related spending. Innovative in its outlook, the organization is community oriented and committed to making the Seacoast flourish. The Music Hall is a 501c3 nonprofit managed by a professional staff with the assistance of a volunteer board.  Though global in the scope of its artists and programs, The Music Hall operates independently with the support of 3,000 members, 300 business supporters, and 58 community partners. Welcoming more than 100,000 patrons (including 20,000 children) each year from the tri-state area and beyond, The Music Hall is the region’s center for the performing arts, literature and education…easy to get to, impossible to forget.www.themusichall.org 

“the beating cultural heart of New Hampshire's seacoast” -  Boston Globe 

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For more information, contact:
Margaret Talcott, Associate Producer
Writers in the Loft and Writers on a New England Stage
The Music Hall
mtalcott@themusichall.org
603-433-3100x5013 

Praise for AFTER HER 

“Passionate, profound… so lyrically written.”— Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and This is Tomorrow 

“Part family reminiscence, part girl detective story, AFTER HER combines the intimacy of one teen’s coming-of-age with the suspense of a serial killer mystery. With warmth and redeeming humor, Joyce Maynard delivers the terror and confusion of adolescence.”— Steward O’Nan, author of Snow Angels and The Speed Queen 

“Joyce Maynard’s latest novel, AFTER HER is a suspenseful page-turning mystery, but even more compelling is her memorable portrait of a thirteen-year-old girl and the complicated world she shares with her sister; the intricate details of their life are sometimes hilarious, often heartbreaking, and always endearing.” — Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life

"Though you will be tempted, try not to turn the pages of this complex thriller too fast: you will miss a tender elegy, an evocative coming-of-age story, and a tribute to the enduring bonds of sisterhood." — Christopher Castellani, author of All This Talk of Love 

Praise for Joyce Maynard 

“A master storyteller...a passionate humanist with a gifted ear and heart…Maynard illuminates the human experience.” —People

“Maynard offers fresh insight into what constitutes family.” —USA Today

“An impressive writer…with a fine sense of time, of place, of humor.” — Buffalo News

“Maynard consistently brings emotional authenticity to the long arc of her characters’ lives and to the joy and loss they experience.” — Booklist 

Praise for The Good Daughters and Labor Day

“Maynard’s spare prose packs a rich emotional punch...a can’t put-it-down mystery.”— People on The Good Daughters

“Labor Day is suffused with tenderness, dreaminess and love....first and foremost a page-turner...[it] puts back together the world that it destroys....you definitely need to get a box of tissues.”— Newsday

“It is a testament to Maynard's skill that she makes this ominous setup into a convincing and poignant coming-of-age tale.”— The Washington Post on Labor Day