About this Event
Succession meets The Family Stone in bestselling author Wade Rouse’s humorous and sharply observant look at a family teetering on the edge of merry mayhem.
The Chapmans do Christmas the way they do everything: impeccably, expensively, and with the unshakable belief that good lighting can conceal bad blood. Their annual Christmas card may look picture-perfect, but behind the polite smiles there’s a storm brewing. This year, at their grand lakefront cottage on Mackinac Island, a snowstorm traps generations of Chapmans—and their schemes—under one roof.
Chris Chapman is on the verge of losing everything: his father’s trust, his role at the helm of the family business, and his wife’s respect. Kat Chapman is already fed up with hosting her critical, stuck-up in-laws and their impossibly inflexible holiday traditions. Her solution? Invite her working-class parents – born and bred Islanders – for Christmas, much to the horror of the Chapmans, whose rule that “We do not share Christmas with other people” is about to be broken.
As the snow piles up, so do the grievances: their children—fiercely liberal Leah and conservative golden-boy Chip—are locked in a battle of wits, Chris’s vaguely corrupt brother Cormac and his calculating trophy wife are stirring the pot, and Kat’s mother is holding onto a secret that could upend the entire game.
Deliciously messy and surprisingly tender, The Bluff is a feisty festive family drama about money, marriage, power, and all the things we bring to the holiday table besides the turkey.
Wade Rouse is the USA TODAY and #1 internationally bestselling author of 22 books, including 5 memoirs as well as 14 novels and 3 holiday novellas written under his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, a pen name he chose to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life. Wade’s books have been translated into over 30 languages, selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Indie Next Picks, and Michigan Notable Books of the Year. His work has been featured in The Washington Post as well as on NPR and Chelsea Lately and a few of his novels have been optioned for film and TV. Wade earned his B.A. from Drury University and his master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He divides his time between Saugatuck, Michigan, and Palm Springs with his husband, Gary, and their rescue dog, Gerti, and hosts the popular Facebook Live literary happy hour, “Wine & Words with Wade,” every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET on the Viola Shipman Facebook page.
Anneliese Judge is an actress, passionate book lover, and the founder of who to judge?, a media company and book club designed to spotlight stories and foster community. She is best known for her role as ‘Annie Sullivan’ in the Netflix Original Series Sweet Magnolias, and is set to star in an upcoming movie for Lifetime, yet to be announced.
Event venue & nearby stays
1113 Montana Ave, 1113 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, United States
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