Third Place Books welcomes Rebekah Anderson to our Ravenna store! Anderson will be discussing her debut novel, The Grand Promise, about the real communities that were impacted by the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River during the 1930’s. This event is free and open to the public.
For important updates, registration is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
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The Grand Promise takes us back to the 1930s New Deal public works program. An Eastern Washington town is uprooted and a family grapples with personal and financial dilemmas. A father resists inevitable change and enters into a fierce conflict with his son. The historic construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, a massive project destined to bring prosperity to the Pacific Northwest, will also destroy the family's home and their town, but it will change the lives of their community and the lives of indigenous people who have sustained themselves on the Columbia River for generations.
“A thoughtful look at desperation brought about by early-20th-century American enterprise.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Anderson’s enthralling literary novel addresses the human cost of a Depression-era public works project”
—Publishers Weekly, BookLife Review
“The Grand Promise is more than a gripping debut from a writer of grand promise. Anderson has given us a poignant exploration of the costs and benefits of progress that is at once hopeful and redemptive. A great addition to the northwest canon.”
—Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here and Small World
“Rebekah Anderson imagines the repercussions of building the Grand Coulee Dam for riverside communities riven by prejudice, need and hope. To make it through The Great Depression, her characters destroy, scavenge and rebuild to salvage their homes and self-images. A most American story of survival and self advancement in the name of questionable progress, The Grand Promise posits questions about prosperity whose answers are playing out in real time. Amidst shanty towns of a Pacific Northwest more akin to modern times than most people want to believe, each generation raises the stakes for the next.”
—Kristen Millares Young, author of Subduction and Good Mother
Rebekah Anderson is a native Washingtonian whose family came to the Pacific Northwest as a result of the Homesteading Act. Her debut novel, The Grand Promise was called "a thoughtful look" by Kirkus Reviews, "enthralling" by Publishers Weekly, "a gripping debut” by best-selling author Jonathan Evison and “an ambitious saga” by Washington State Book Award winner Peter Mountford. The Grand Promise imagines the impacts to the communities on the Columbia River in the 1930s when the Grand Coulee Dam was built. Published by Empty Bowl Press, the novel is loosely based on the author's family history in Eastern Washington. Anderson earned an MFA in Fiction from New York University, where she studied with E.L. Doctorow. She currently lives in West Seattle.
Want a signed edition of the featured book, but can't make it to the event? Order through our website or over the phone, and write your request for a signature or personalization in the comments field at checkout. Please call the hosting store if you're placing your order within 24 hours of the event.
Third Place Books Events Code of Conduct: Third Place Books is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of event attendees and guest authors, during both online and in-store events. By registering for this event, you are agreeing to refrain from engaging in inappropriate behavior and harassment of any kind throughout the course of this event (i.e. racial slurs, profanity, hate speech, spam comments, etc.). Please note that any participants who engage in inappropriate behavior or harassment of any kind will be immediately ejected from the event.
For media inquiries, access inquiries, or questions about our Covid-19 policies, please email events@thirdplacebooks.com or call our Lake Forest Park store at (206) 366-3311.
