Five authors are introducing Wilton Library readers to everything from beach reads and bestsellers to presidential histories and historical fiction this June. There’s something for everyone!

Terry McMillan, I Almost Forgot About You
Tuesday, June 7, 7 p.m.

Kicking everything off is acclaimed, multimillion copy and New York Times bestselling author Terry McMillan, who comes to Wilton Library to discuss her latest novel, I Almost Forgot About You. Once again Wilton Library has been granted the opportunity to bring a bestselling author to the library on the release date of a new novel.

Like two of McMillan’s previous novels, Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (both adapted into films), I Almost Forgot About You shows what can happen when you face your fears, take a chance, and open yourself up to the world. This will be a special night.

In I Almost Forgot About You, Dr. Georgia Young’s wonderful life—great friends, family, and a successful career—aren’t enough to keep her from feeling stuck and restless. When she decides to make some major changes in her life, she finds herself on a wild journey that may or may not include a second chance at love. It is the inspiring story of a woman who shakes things up in her life to find greater meaning. The story shows readers what can happen when a person faces her fears, takes a chance and opens up to the world.

Kirkus Reviews noted, “Fans of McMillan will welcome this new addition to her oeuvre. Here is McMillan’s trademark style in full, feisty effect:  strong, complicated female characters, energetic prose, and an entertaining, seductive narrative. A heartwarming story that reminds us of the pure joy of believing in love.” Each of Ms. McMillan’s seven previous novels was a New York Times bestseller, and four have been made into movies:  Waiting to Exhale (Twentieth Century Fox, 1995); How Stella Got Her Groove Back (Twentieth Century Fox, 1998); Disappearing Acts (HBO Pictures, 1999); and A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime, 2014).

McMillan fell in love with books as a teenager while working at the local library. She studied journalism at UC Berkeley and screenwriting at Columbia before making her fiction debut with Mama, which won both the Doubleday New Voices in Fiction Award and the American Book Award. She lives in Pasadena, California.

Karen Danvers, program manager for Wilton Library remarked, “We are thrilled to have Terry McMillan visit the library. It’s such an honor to have her here on the first day the book is being released. That says a lot about the Wilton community and how warm and welcoming people can be to a powerhouse author like Terry.”

There is no charge for the author talk. Books will be available for purchase and signing courtesy of Elm Street Books of New Canaan with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the library. Advance registration is highly recommended.

William Leuchtenburg, The American President
Thursday, June 9, 7 p.m.

William Leuchtenburg, one of the great presidential historians of the century, will discuss his most recent book, The American President. Leuchtenburg is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His book is about the American presidential actions from the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 to Bill Clinton’s last night in office in January 2001.

Leuchtenburg portrays each of the presidents in a chronicle sparkling with anecdote and wit. Leuchtenburg offers a nuanced assessment of their conduct in office, preoccupations, and temperament. His book presents countless moments of high drama:  FDR hurling defiance at the ‘economic royalists’ who exploited the poor; ratcheting tension for JFK as Soviet vessels approach an American naval blockade; a grievously wounded Reagan joking with nurses while fighting for his life. This book charts the enormous growth of presidential power from its lowly state in the late nineteenth century to the imperial presidency of the twentieth, and reveals that many presidents practiced deceits that shape their image today, but many also pulled off magnificent achievements worthy of the nation’s pride. Visit the Library website to register.

Christine Reilly, Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday
Tuesday, June 14, 7 p.m.

Debut novelist Christine Reilly tells an arresting family love story in the much-acclaimed Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday.

The eccentric yet tight-knit Simone family is coping with tragedy during 90s New York, struggling to reconnect with each other and heal.

Claudio and Mathilde Simone, once romantic bohemians hopelessly enamored with each other, find themselves nestled in domesticity in New York, running a struggling vinyl record store and parenting three daughters as best they can:  Natasha, an overachieving prodigy; sensitive Lucy, with her debilitating heart condition; and Carly, adopted from China and quietly fixated on her true origins.

With prose that is as keen and illuminating as it is whimsical and luminous, Reilly tells the unusual love story of this family. Poignant and humane, Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday is a deft exploration of the tender ties that bind families together, even as they threaten to tear them apart.

Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday is the recipient of a Kirkus star, and has received praise from Harper’s Bazaar (15 Books to Cozy Up To This Winter), Elle Magazine (Trust Us, April 2016 issue), PopSugar (Books You Should Read This Spring), Bustle (11 Books That Will Hook You In From the Very First Line), Publisher’s Weekly and more.

Reilly currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and the Gotham Writers Workshop. She has previously taught at the Dalton School, Collegiate School, City & Country School, and the Professional Children’s School. She lives in New York, New York.

A Q&A and book signing will follow the talk. There is no charge, but registration is highly recommended.

Joy Callaway, The Fifth Avenue Artists Society
Thursday, June 16, 7 p.m.

Rich with historical detail, Joy Callaway‘s The Fifth Avenue Artists Society is Edith Wharton meets Little Women, set in the genteel poverty of the Bronx, circa 1891.

This is a vividly descriptive, captivating debut novel from a bright new talent. Drawing on her own family history, author Callaway has written a gripping story following Virginia Loftin, the boldest of four artistic sisters living in genteel poverty in the Bronx in 1891. Ginny’s ambition to become a celebrated novelist, despite the prejudice against women in her time, leads her to join Manhattan’s most elite artistic salon, which she soon learns has secrets to hide. Having entered a world that isn’t quite as she imagined, Ginny will realize how high the stakes are for her family, her writing, and her chance at love.

The Fifth Avenue Artists Society is rich with historical detail—from the elaborate hats Ginny’s sister designs for Manhattan’s elite to the famous literary figures she meets at the salon, Callaway paints a vivid portrait of New York’s glitzy Gilded Age. Callaway follows the Loftin sisters as they navigate and reconcile the sometimes-conflicting pursuits of art and marriage, themes that resonate today, and brings a young and fresh perspective to historical fiction.

Callaway lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her family. This is her first novel.

A Q&A will follow the talk. There is no charge, but registration is highly recommended.

Mary Simses, The Rules of Love & Grammar
Tuesday, June 28, 7 p.m.

Mary Simses, the author of the bestselling The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop And Café, returns to Wilton Library with her highly anticipated novel, The Rules Of Love & Grammar.

* The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that performs the verb. A woman may attract the attention of more than one man.

If only the rules of love were as cut-and-dried as the rules of grammar!

Grace Hammond is a young woman with a bone to pick about spelling mistakes, punctuation, and sentence structure. A wordsmith by trade, Grace can’t let even the most innocent grammar mistakes slip by. Grace’s life is in need of correcting, too. Laid off from her writing job and newly single, she hits Pause and returns to her parents’ house in Connecticut to confront the mistakes she’s made in life (while pointing out the town’s grammatical ones, of course) and come to terms, finally, with her sister’s death. Along the way, Grace falls into a love triangle and must decide what truly matters, and whether it just might be time for her to set aside the rule book, open her heart, and take a chance on the unknown.

Mary Simses grew up in Connecticut and spent many years in New England working in magazine publishing and later as a corporate attorney, writing fiction on the side. She is the author of the bestselling debut novel, The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Café, and her short stories have appeared in a number of literary journals. In The Rules of Love & Grammar, Simses’ highly anticipated new novel, each chapter starts off with a grammar rule that is applied cleverly to the plot.

A Q&A and book signing will follow the talk. There is no charge, but registration is highly recommended.

Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Rd..