|
Event
Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series Luncheon with award-winning writer Michele Moore
Join us Friday, March 18th at noon for Blue Bicycle Books Charleston Author Series luncheon at Halls Chophouse, when author Michele Moore talks about her just-published novel, "The Cigar Factory."
Moore's extensive historical research included interviews with her own family members who worked at the Cigar Factory, adding a layer of nuance and authenticity to her empowering story of families and friendships forged through struggle, loss, and redemption. "The Cigar Factory" includes a foreword by New York Times best-selling author Pat Conroy.
Tickets are only $30 for the author talk and delicious three-course luncheon at Halls Chophouse, or $58 that includes the luncheon plus a signed, hardcover copy of "The Cigar Factory." Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street in downtown Charleston.
About the Book:
"An empowering story of families and friendships forged through struggle, loss, and redemption."
The sun leaned for down bringing shade to the waterfront," begins Michele Moore's entrancing debut novel, harkening back to an era when the legendary fishermen of Charleston's Mosquito Fleet rowed miles offshore for their daily catch.
With evocative dialect and remarkable prose, "The Cigar Factory" tells the story of two entwined families, both devoutly Catholic the white McGonegals and the African American Ravenels in the storied port city of Charleston, South Carolina, during the world wars.
Moore's novel follows the parallel lives of family matriarchs working on segregated floors of the massive Charleston cigar factory, where white and black workers remain divided and misinformed about the duties and treatment each group receives.
Cassie McGonegal and her niece Brigid work upstairs in the factory, rolling cigars by hand. Meliah Amey Ravenel works in the basement, where she stems the tobacco. While both white and black workers suffer in the harsh working conditions of the factory and both endure the sexual harassment of the foremen, segregation keeps them from recognizing their common plight until the Tobacco Workers Strike of 1945.
Through the experience of a brutal picket line, two women come to realize how much they stand to gain by joining forces, creating a powerful moment in labor history that gives rise to the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome."
About the Author:
Michele Moore has served as a fellow in the English Department at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia. She was a 2006 finalist for the Bellwether Prize for Literature. Her creative nonfiction has been broadcast on Georgia Public Radio and published in the Louisville Review, Habersham Review, ACM (Another Chicago Magazine), Groundwater, and O, Georgia.
She has also won awards and grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Kentucky Arts Council, and the Kentucky Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters.
Tickets are $30 for lunch plus tax and processing fee, or $58 for lunch and a signed, hardcover copy of "The Cigar Factory."
Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating provides an intimate experience with the author.
Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street, where the luncheon and discussion will take place.
Parking is available at the Visitors Center Garage on Ann Street between King and Meeting Streets, the Camden Exchange Garage between John and Hutson Streets, or at meters on the street.
|
|
 |
LocationHalls Chophouse (View)
434 King Street Street
Charleston, SC 29403
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
|
Contact
|
