Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

Saturday, May 12  
2:00 pm
Rotary Room, Main Library
This rich, moving, and lyrical debut novel is to Syria what The Kite Runner was to Afghanistan.  The Map of Salt and Stars is the story of two girls living eight hundred years apart - a modern-day Syrian refugee seeking safety and a medieval adventurer apprenticed to a legendary mapmaker. This novel places today's headlines in the sweep of history, where the pain of exile and the triumph of courage echo again and again. Joukhadar is a Syrian American author originally from New York City. She was born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother. She worked as a biomedical research scientist before becoming a full-time writer. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net .  Please register.

Joseph A. Williams
Wednesday, May 16 
7:00 pm 
Rotary Room, Main Library

The Sunken Gold tells the story of how the British
ship HMS Laurentic, laden with forty-four tons of
Allied gold bound for the United States, was sunk
off the coast of Ireland by Germany in 1917 and
the epic struggle by divers from the British Navy
to recover the treasure. The book also describes the underwater spywork conducted by divers by breaking into sunken U-boats and looking for codes, ciphers, and other secret documents. Over 99% of the treasure from the Laurentic was recovered. However, there are still twenty bars of gold left in the wreck waiting to be discovered. Joseph A. Williams is a librarian, archivist, historian and author. He was Head of Collections and Assistant Director of the State University of New York Maritime College Library. Currently, he is  Deputy Director of the  Greenwich Library (CT) . Please register .