If it is true that I have written and published in a number of genres over the course of too many decades now, it is also true that every book has felt like the very first book—raw and anxious and daringly hopeful. This new book of mine—Tomorrow Will Bring Sunday’s News: A Philadelphia Story—is no different.
Tomorrow has made its home with Tursulowe Press, whose editors have worked with such great care to ensure the best possible version of this story.
On April 1st, I’ll mark my birthday and the launch of the book at the fabulous independent Main Point Books, owned by my dear friend Cathy Fiebach; other readings and events will follow.
In June, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association will publish an essay recounting the mysterious life of my grandmother in pages curated by a remarkable board of writers (Alice McDermott, Christina Baker Kline, Amy Bloom, Lisa Gornick, Matt Klam, Bill Roorbach, Tim Kreider, Dani Shapiro, Aria Sloss, Meg Wolitzer and Mary Kay Zuravleff; in recent weeks, I joined the board) and helmed by Kerry Malawista. I learned so very much about language and my own work from the brilliant Rebekah Rutkoff, whose comments on my essay will always be deeply cherished.
But before any of that happens, I have this today—the book’s first review, a star from Booklist. The enormously generous Carol Haggas wrote, in part, this:
Kephart distills the precarious nature of life bracketed by the dual tragedies of that era with palpable humanity, aching depth, and timeless understanding. In this, her first novel for adults, Kephart, a prolific essayist, memoirist, and young-adult novelist, mines the stories of her own grandmother's life to bring an intimacy and immediacy to Peggy's poignant tale, her prose's lilting cadence echoing the sound of a heart breaking anew.
It is a desperately difficult time in this world. Celebrating anything feels—not quite right. So I simply want to say thank you to Jessie and S.J. and Tursulowe, to Cathy and Main Point Books, to Kerry and Rebekah and JAPA, to Donna Seaman and Booklist and Carol. I want to say thank you, too, to you wonderful Substack friends for giving me such a necessary sense of purpose since I joined this community in September. I had no idea what to do with my literary heart until you all came along.
A reading of the first two pages, then. (The link is above.) In honor and in gratitude.
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