Join us for an evening with Melissa Duclos, Mo Daviau, and Josh Denslow (left to right, below). We’ll be celebrating the launch of Melissa Duclos’ novel, Besotted, with readings related to the theme of heartbreak and relationships.

Besotted is the ballad of Sasha and Liz, American expats in Shanghai. Both have moved abroad to escape—Sasha from her father’s disapproval, Liz from the predictability of her hometown. When they move in together, Sasha falls in love, but the sudden attention from a charming architect threatens the relationship. Meanwhile, Liz struggles to be both a good girlfriend to Sasha and a good friend to Sam, her Shanghainese language partner who needs more from her than grammar lessons. For fans of Prague by Arthur Phillips and The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee, Besotted is an expat novel that explores what it means to love someone while running away from yourself.

Melissa Duclos is the author of the novel Besotted (7.13 Books, 2019). Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Salon, and Bustle, among other venues. She is the founder of Magnify: Small Presses, Bigger, a monthly newsletter celebrating small press books; and co-founder of Amplify: Women’s Voices, Louder a series of writing retreats aimed at putting woman-identifying writers on the path to publication. She has an MFA from Columbia University and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Mo Daviau is the author of the novel Every Anxious Wave (St. Martin’s Press, 2016). Her nonfiction has appeared in The Offing, The Toast, Nailed Magazine, and McSweeney’s. She is hard at work on her third novel, as well as on her latest project, a dating and relationship advice podcast called No Love Signs. Mo lived in Austin for a long time, but now lives in Portland, Oregon.

Josh Denslow’s debut collection Not Everyone Is Special (7.13 Books) is a real book you can hold in your hands! In addition to constructing elaborate Lego sets with his three boys, he plays the drums in the band Borrisokane and edits at SmokeLong Quarterly.