SheReaders Book Club

In this evocative tale from the bestselling author of The Dressmaker’s Gift, a strange new city offers a young girl hope. Can it also offer a lost soul a second chance?

Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America. Life here is as intense as the sun, every sight, smell and sound overwhelming to the senses in a city filled with extraordinary characters. It’s a world away from the trouble back home—and Josie loves it.

Seventy years later, another new arrival in the intoxicating port city, Zoe, is struggling—with her marriage, her baby daughter and her new life as an expat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie, who once looked out on the same view of the Atlantic Ocean, but who knew a very different Casablanca.

It’s not long before Zoe begins to see her adopted city through Josie’s eyes. But can a new perspective help her turn tragedy into hope, and find the comfort she needs to heal her broken heart?

Drawing Mandalas to Create Calm

The word mandala simply means circle. In this introduction workshop, you will learn how to create an original freestyle mandala using colored pencils, markers or gel pens. Mandalas are filled with symbolism, imagery and wisdom. I will introduce techniques and themes to approach your drawing, and I will discuss how mandalas can aid in healing, meditation and relaxation. Most of all, you will learn how to create your original mandala and discover the calming benefits of working with the sacred circle. No art experience is required. Materials include: Art journal or paper roughly 8 1/2 x 11 inches, colored pencils, markers, or gel pens. Something to trace a circle.

Facilitated by SheReaders member, Victoria Van Zandt, licensed marriage and family therapist and art therapist in Los Angeles, CA. Victoria has been working with women for over 20 years helping them access their creative selves using poetry, art making and journaling. Creativity aids in managing depression, anxiety and promotes greater sense of self all around.

Join us for this fun and creative event on Zoom!

An immersive story about family secrets and the power of forgiveness from the bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick Honor

When Remy Wadia left India for the United States, he carried his resentment of his cold and inscrutable mother with him and has kept his distance from her. Years later, he returns to Bombay, planning to adopt a baby from a young pregnant girl—and to see his elderly mother again before it is too late. She is in the hospital, has stopped talking, and seems to have given up on life.

Struck with guilt for not realizing just how ill she had become, Remy devotes himself to helping her recover and return home. But one day in her apartment he comes upon an old photograph that demands explanation. As shocking family secrets surface, Remy finds himself reevaluating his entire childhood and his relationship to his parents, just as he is on the cusp of becoming a parent himself. Can Remy learn to forgive others for their human frailties, or is he too wedded to his sorrow and anger over his parents’ long-ago decisions?

Surprising, devastating, and ultimately a story of redemption and healing still possible between a mother and son, The Museum of Failures is a tour de force from one of our most elegant storytellers about the mixed bag of love and regret. It is also, above all, a much-needed reminder that forgiveness comes from empathy for others.