The Page Turners March Meeting; Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

Join us for this timely and quietly compelling novel that blends family drama with the pressing questions of the digital age. Culpability opens with the Cassidy-Shaw family on their way to a lacrosse tournament when their self-driving minivan—now with teenager Charlie nominally “at the wheel”—collides with another vehicle. The crash leaves the family shaken, and the other car’s elderly occupants dead.   

As they regroup at a Chesapeake Bay retreat, each family member is grappling with their own version of guilt—and perhaps something more they’ve been hiding. The father, Noah, worries about Charlie’s future and their exposure to the police; his wife, Lorelei, a leading AI ethicist, holds a secret that raises Noah’s suspicions; and the children—Alice and Izzy—are dealing with confessions to chatbots and feelings they can’t (or won’t) say out loud.   

Beyond the crash, the novel quietly asks: When algorithms control so much of our lives, where does responsibility begin—and end? Culpability doesn’t scream big ideas; it invites them in. Through realistic dialogue, nuanced relationships, and subtle revelations, Holsinger explores how fault, trust, and autonomy become entangled in the age of AI.   

This novel has already been named Oprah’s Book Club pick for July 2025—no small feat—and critics are calling it “one of the most of-the-moment novels of the year.”

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