Sisterhood

**Our April novel is: *The Hong Kong Widow* by Kristen Loesch** **This month’s novel blends gothic atmosphere with historical fiction and chilling horror, set against the haunting backdrop of China. The book is 368 pages in print and 10 hours and 42 minutes on audiobook.** In 1950s Hong Kong, Mei is a young refugee of the Chinese Communist revolution struggling to put her past in Shanghai behind her. When she receives a shocking invitation—to take part in a competition in one of the city's most notorious haunted houses, pitting six spirit mediums against one another in a series of six séances over six nights, until a single winner emerges—she has every reason to refuse. Except that the hostess, a former Shanghainese silent film star, is none other than the wife of the man who once destroyed Mei’s entire life. It is promised the winner will receive a fortune, but there is only one prize Mei wants: revenge. Decades later, the final night of that competition has become an infamous urban legend: The police were called to the scene of a brutal massacre but found no evidence, dismissing it as a collective hallucination. Mei knows what she saw, but now someone else is convinced they know what she did. She must uncover the truth about the last night she ever spent in that house—even if the ghosts of her past are waiting for her there. . . .

WQC has weekly Thursday night social nights at the Westerville Java Central. Come and grab a coffee and connect with the community: low stakes, chill environment, and tasty drinks. No registration is required; come as you are.

Join us as we get together for an Arthouse Movie Friday event to see the A24 dark comedy /romance / psychological-thriller, THE DRAMA! The film stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a happily engaged couple whose relationship is challenged when one discovers unsettling truths about the other. Here are details, a trailer and our plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: The film follows a happily engaged couple whose relationship is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails. The film comes from A24, is written/directed by Kristoffer Borgli stars Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates and Zoë Winters. ZENDAYA-PATTINSON TRIFECTA CHALLENGE: Robert Pattinson and Zendaya will star in THREE movies together this year, including THE DRAMA, Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY this Summer and Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE: PART THREE at Christmas! TRAILER: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmKcUa4Xxk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmKcUa4Xxk) BUZZ & REVIEWS: Overall some solid early reviews but this one seems to be a bit polarizing! We’ll have to see for ourselves. Those in the “loved it” camp say is not the rom-com the trailers would have you to believe! Instead, a twisty darkly comedic drama that’s “anchored by two compelling performances,” “an original idea, great cast, and a movie that’s gonna have people talking at the end of it!” PLAN: A slightly later showtime so we’ll go with dinner before the show this time. Here’s the plan: For dinner before the movie, meet at nearby BRASSICA between 5:45 and 6:00pm. Go through the line, and we’ll try to snag as many of the high-top tables as we can. For the movie, please purchase your ticket for the 7:30pm showing and we’ll meet in the lobby area between 7:00 and 7:15pm. I’ll be with the dinner group and will try to get there as close to 7pm as possible. Advance ticket purchase not required for this theater. When you purchase yours at counter, be sure to mention you’re with the Movie Group for admission and concession discounts. Take care and look forward to seeing you there, Dan

**Connected Westerville Night of Networking** *April Edition: The Introduction Economy* You've been to the networking events. You've done the small talk. Collected the cards. Forgotten the names. And walked out feeling like you just wasted two hours of your life. The problem isn't you. It's the format. Most networking events put you in a room and tell you to figure it out. So everyone defaults to elevator pitches and business talk, and nothing real gets built. Here's the truth about networking that most people miss: Your network isn't just who you know. It's who thinks of you when they're talking to someone else. *That's* The Introduction Economy. And it only works when relationships are real. There's a reason people who come once keep coming back. It starts with seven minutes that feel nothing like networking. Then we open it up. Free networking. More conversations. More momentum. This is a room full of corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, creatives, and career builders in the Westerville and Columbus area. The mix is the magic. You might never do business with everyone you meet tonight. But someone in this room will think of *you.* **By name**. So, the next time someone needs exactly what you do, you get the recommendation. **April 14th. RSVP now.** **When:** Tuesday\, April 14th \| 6:15 PM \-\- 8:00 PM **Where:** Vineyard Community Center \| 6000 Cooper Rd\, Westerville\, OH 43081

Let’s try this popular Italian restaurant in Reynoldsburg. This is the menu: https://scaliristorante.com/#4e468054-0235-43e2-81c2-44e061341e9e

Semi in honor of March being International Women's Month Columbus libraries: [https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3454709](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3454709) Location: SOW Plated Menu: [https://www.sowplated.com/menu-brunch/](https://www.sowplated.com/menu-brunch/) Book summary: In 2006 Julia Lerner is living in Moscow, a recent university graduate in computer science, when she's recruited by Russia's largest intelligence agency. By 2018 she's in Silicon Valley as COO of Tangerine, one of America's most famous technology companies. In between her executive management (make offers to promising startups, crush them and copy their features if they refuse); self promotion (check out her latest op-ed in the WSJ, on Work/Life Balance 2.0); and work in gender equality (transfer the most annoying females from her team), she funnels intelligence back to the motherland. But now Russia's asking for more, and Julia's getting nervous. Alice Lu is a first generation Chinese American whose parents are delighted she's working at Tangerine (such a successful company!). Too bad she's slogging away in the lower echelons, recently dumped, and now sharing her expensive two-bedroom apartment with her cousin Cheri, a perennial "founder's girlfriend". One afternoon, while performing a server check, Alice discovers some unusual activity, and now she's burdened with two powerful but distressing suspicions: Tangerine's privacy settings aren't as rigorous as the company claims they are, and the person abusing this loophole might be Julia Lerner herself. The closer Alice gets to Julia, the more Julia questions her own loyalties. Russia may have placed her in the Valley, but she's the one who built her career; isn't she entitled to protect the lifestyle she's earned?