Ann Napolitano, A Good Hard Look with Rainy Day Books

This event takes place in Unity Hall (in the lower level of Unity Temple) and includes a conversation with Ann as well as an opportunity to get your book signed and personalized.

A Good Hard Look

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward, a novel set in Flannery O’Connor’s hometown of Milledgeville, and a tragedy that forever alters the town and the author herself.

“A wholly believable world shaped by duty, small pleasures, and fateful choices.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

Forced by illness to leave behind a successful life in New York, literary icon Flannery O’Connor has returned to her family farm in the small town of Milledgeville, Georgia. With her health and time both limited, all she wants is to be left alone to write.

But Flannery’s plans are soon upended by Melvin Whiteson, a banker from Manhattan who has recently married the town belle. Melvin is at loose ends with his new life; though he has every opportunity, he’s not sure where to begin. Flannery knows exactly what she wants, but is running out of time. Through their unusual and clandestine friendship, both will come to reflect on the decisions they have made and the paths they have chosen.

Literary history and fiction gracefully intersect in this emotionally charged novel of small town Southern life from one of our most beloved novelists, which asks us all to consider how we can live our lives to the fullest.

Ann Napolitano is the New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful, the 100th selection for Oprah Winfrey's book club; Dear Edward, a Read with Jenna selection and an Apple TV+ series; A Good Hard Look; and Within Arm's Reach. For seven years, Napolitano was the associate editor of the literary magazine One Story, and she received an MFA from New York University. She has taught fiction writing at Brooklyn College’s MFA program, New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and Gotham Writers Workshop.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 West 47th Street, Kansas City, United States