Please join Ben McNally Books and WW Norton in celebrating the release of Blair Hurley‘s debut novel, The Devoted.

Blair will be joined in conversation with novelist Ann Y. K. Choi to discuss the novel, followed by a book signing.

Light refreshments will be served.

When:

Wednesday September 5

6:30 to 8pm (Doors at 6)

Where:

Ben McNally Books

366 Bay Street

FREE EVENT

RSVP via Eventbrite 

Share via Facebook

A spellbinding confession of what it means to abandon one life for another, The Devoted asks what it takes, and what you’ll sacrifice, to find enlightenment.

Nicole Hennessy’s life revolves around her Zen practice at the Boston Zendo, seeking solace in the tenets of Buddhism to the chagrin of her Irish Catholic family. After a decade of grueling spiritual practice under her Master’s tutelage, living on a shoestring budget as a shop clerk, Nicole has become dangerously entangled with her mentor. As Nicole confronts her past—a drug-fueled year spent fleeing her family’s loaded silences and guilt-laden “Our Fathers”—and reinvents herself in New York City, her Master’s intoxicating voice pursues her, an electrifying whisper on the other end of the phone. Somehow, he knows everything.

In deft, soaring prose that bristles with psychological and erotic tension, Blair Hurley crafts a thrilling exploration of Nicole’s ecstatic quest for spirituality.

Blair Hurley is a Pushcart Prize winner whose work has been published in West Branch and Mid-American Review, among others. A native of Boston, she now lives in Toronto, where she teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto.

Originally from South Korea, Ann Y.K. Choi immigrated to Canada in 1975. Her debut novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award. A teacher with the York Region District School Board, Ann lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter.