Thursday Januart 28 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Belle Haven Finishing School is an intergenerational tale about a Southern finishing school set in 1951 and 1987, inspired by the true story of a decades-old cover-up that binds two women together, thirty years apart.
“There are times when the greater good must take precedence,” he said. “When the sacrifices of the few lead to scientific breakthroughs that improve the lives of thousands, tens of thousands.”�“But at what cost?” she asked.
In 1951, Belle Haven Finishing School offers orphan girls the promise of a brighter future. For Birdie and her cousin Rue, it’s a chance to become proper ladies, to dream beyond their small world, and change the trajectory of their lives. But as Birdie navigates the school’s unusual rules and glamorous, yet unsettling, atmosphere, she begins to question the true intentions behind its polished facade—and what it might mean for her and Rue.
In 1987, Charlotte Davenport, a burgeoning New York Times reporter who is hungry to cover stories beyond the ladies’ lifestyle pages, discovers a curious connection between the finishing school and an academic study that was never published. Charlotte is convinced a cover-up took place to protect the prominent university professor behind the unethical experiment. As Charlotte pieces together the past, she finds herself drawn into a mystery that touches her own life in unexpected ways.
Dramatic, deeply human, emotionally satisfying, and written with vivid historical details, Belle Haven Finishing School is a heartfelt tale of ambition, the power of female connection, and the courage to seek the truth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Adele Myers is the author of THE TOBACCO WIVES, an Indie Next and Barnes & Noble Discover Pick. She grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is an adjunct professor.
ABOUT ROBERT GWALTNEY:
Robert Gwaltney serves as Executive Director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, bringing more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience and a lifelong commitment to literature, education, and community engagement to the role.
Gwaltney is also an award-winning Southern fiction writer. His debut novel, The Cicada Tree, was named the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel. His second novel, Sing Down the Moon, received the Somerset Award for Literary and Contemporary Fiction and the IPPY Award for Best Regional Fiction—Southeast. His work has appeared in Southbound Magazine, Southern Literary Review, The Blue Mountain Review, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, among other publications.
A lifelong Southerner and graduate of Florida State University, Gwaltney brings together his experiences as a nonprofit leader, writer, and advocate for literary arts in service to the Pat Conroy Literary Center’s continuing story.
