About this Event
When Lemons Give You Life - Anna Johnston
From the author of the beloved international bestseller The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife comes a heart-stirring novel about family, second chances, and the lengths we go for those we love, following a woman fighting to hold onto life and her older brother who's rediscovering reasons to embrace it.
Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite. He's done with grief, guilt, and the beige slop they call food at Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility, where he resides. Six decades of life have handed him all the lemons he can handle, so he breaks into the nursing home kitchen to bake one last tart as his final meal. But the act of cooking stirs a dormant joy, and soon he's sneaking in after dark to serve up flavor and comfort to fellow residents, who come alive with each bite—all while hiding a lie big enough to destroy the one thing he has left to protect.
Lisa, Griff's younger sister and sole visitor, is navigating a midlife ADHD diagnosis, a new romance, and unexpected news that could change everything. Despite their fractured relationship, she keeps showing up, even with hope for reconciliation long buried in the silence between them. But the truth has a way of boiling over, and when secrets, soufflés, and second chances collide, Griff and Lisa may discover a recipe for forgiveness.
Heartfelt and inspiring, When Lemons Give You Life is a deeply human novel about love, forgiveness, redemption, and rediscovering joy when life has lost its flavor.
Anna Johnston is a former baby, aspiring octogenarian and Australian author with a love for the heartfelt and hilarious. She grew up in country Victoria before moving to Melbourne where she lives joyously with her husband and daughters by the beach. Anna left an imminent career in medicine to follow her heart into her grandfather’s nursing home where she became the social support coordinator, taking great delight in shaking up the usual program. When injury left her unable to continue working in aged care, she began to write about it, channelling her love for older people onto the page. Anna has enjoyed a lifelong passion for theatre, screenplay, travel, and positive ageing. Anna's debut novel, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife, became a runaway bestseller, has been optioned for film by Netflix.
Tell Me About Joy - Kara Kavensky
A wartime romance. A journalist on the brink. And a miraculous reunion that changes everything.
For readers of Eat, Pray, Love, Tuesdays With Morrie and Untamed, this poignant true story reminds us that it's never too late for love.
Kara is a journalist stuck in a crumbling marriage, quietly losing hope. When she's assigned to write a human interest piece on WWII Veterans, she meets Bob―a sharp, charming nonagenarian who shares his greatest regret: that he missed out on marrying the love of his life―a woman named Joy.
It's been over 60 years since Bob has spoken her name, and he has one last wish: to find her before it's too late.
What begins as a routine assignment turns into the story that changes everything. As Kara sets out to reunite two long-lost lovers, she's forced to confront the losses and longings in her own life. What unfolds is a moving, unforgettable journey through memory, healing, and the enduring power of love.
Tell Me About Joy is a beautifully written true story about the lives we live, the choices we carry, and the unexpected ways love can find us again―even after all this time.
Kara Kavensky is a writer and corporate communications strategist. Her podcast RECORD SCRATCH with Kara Kavensky is an extension of what she loves to do: share uplifting stories of others. As a journalist, she has written over one thousand human interest stories. One of those stories altered the trajectory of her life. The result of that pivotal interview made her an author with her memoir, Tell Me About Joy. Kara is also the creator of the corporate communications masterclass, Remain Relevant. A graduate of Indiana University (where her father accused her of majoring in Caribbean vacationing), Kara is an avid nature photographer and novice birdwatcher, much to her grown children’s amusement. She lives with her husband Adam in Indianapolis, and together they travel whenever they aren’t tackling a remodeling project on their home.
Event venue & nearby stays
1113 Montana Ave, 1113 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.