Get Lit: A Literary Salon— Intemperance

Join us for a guided discussion of our monthly book selection, paired with delicious food, drinks, and the company of a wonderful reading community.

Includes the book of the month (physical or audio copy), 2 drinks, an appetizer, family-style main course, and light dessert. Limited to 40 seats. Additional food and drink available for purchase at Stems & Skins.

• April Book Club Pick: Intemperance by Sonora Jha
• Where: Stems & Skins, 1070 E Montague Ave, North Charleston, SC
• When: April 21, 2026, at 7 p.m.

Book Fulfillment

• During order confirmation, you will select either a physical copy or audiobook version of the month's book.
• Please provide an email address for your audiobook token to be sent to. It will come as an email from Libro.fm within 24 hours of purchase with the subject line "Intemperance on Libro.fm" and may go to your promotions folder.
• If you opt for the print book and would like it shipped to your address of choice, please add the $5 shipping add-on to your order.
• All other print books will be pick-up at book club or at the bookstore.

Dietary Restrictions & Alcohol-Free Options

Select the "Special Diet" or "Non-Alcoholic Drink Pairings" Dietary Restrictions at checkout.

Parking

Street parking is available around Stems & Skins. There are also several public parking lots nearby, such as on Cougar Way behind DIG, Stone's Ally in front of Itinerant Literate, off Colie Morse Lane there are two grass lots in front of Cooper River Baptist Church and one at Chateau Ave & Garco Street.

In this follow-up to the critically-acclaimed The Laughter—winner of the Washington State Book Award—a middle-aged woman starts a firestorm when she holds a contest, based on an ancient Indian ritual, in which men must compete to win her affections.

A woman who has left two husbands announces she will celebrate her 55th birthday by holding a swayamvar. Drawn from an ancient custom in her Indian culture, this is an event in which suitors line up to compete in a feat of wills and strength to win a beautiful princess’s hand in marriage. The woman, a renowned and respected intellectual in an American town who had once declared she was “past such petty matters as love,” knows she is now setting herself up for widespread societal ridicule, but her self-esteem and sexual libido are off the charts even as her body withers from disability, fading beauty, and her appetite for cake.

To her surprise, a cast of characters shows up to support her call—a wedding planner looking for the next enchanting thing, a disability rights activist making a documentary film, and even, begrudgingly, her own young adult son. The Men's Rights Movement protests her project, angry at her objectification of men. She is waylaid by visitations from goddesses and princesses past, who either try to slap sense into her or cheer her on. She must also reckon with a brutal love story in her ancestry that was endangered by the caste system—a story that placed a generational curse on those in the family who show an intemperance of spirit. As her whole plan spirals into a spectacle, the woman embarks on a journey to decide what feat her suitor must perform to be worthy of her wrinkling hand. What feat will define a newer, better masculinity? What feat will it take for her to trust in the tenderness of love?

Intemperance is at once a satirical feminist folktale and a meditation on how we might reach past all sense and still find love.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Stems & Skins, 1070 East Montague Avenue, North Charleston, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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