About the Author and Book

Christina Baker Kline is the New York Times and international bestselling author of eight novels, including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World, and is published in 40 countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities and schools as “One Book, One Read” selections. Born in England and raised in the American South and Maine, Christina is a graduate of Yale (B.A.), Cambridge (M.A.), and the University of Virginia (M.F.A.), where she was a Hoyns Fellow in Fiction Writing and currently is a resident of New York City and Southwest Harbor, Maine.

Her blockbuster novels,  A Piece of the World (2017), an instant NYT bestseller, and explores the real-life relationship between the artist Andrew Wyeth and the subject of his best-known painting, Christina’s World, and Orphan Train (2013), about a little-known but significant piece of American history, spent more than two years on the NYT bestseller list, including five weeks at #1 and have been optioned for film.

Her gorgeous new novel, The Exiles (2020), which has been optioned as a television mini-series, Christina brilliantly recreates the beginnings of a new society in a beautiful and challenging land, telling the story of Australia from a fresh perspective, through the experiences of Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna. While life in Australia is punishing and often brutally unfair, it is also, for some, an opportunity: for redemption, for a new way of life, for unimagined freedom. Told in exquisite detail and incisive prose, The Exiles is a story of grace born from hardship, the unbreakable bonds of female friendships, and the unfettering of legacy.captures the hardship, oppression, opportunity and hope of a trio of women’s lives—two English convicts and an orphaned Aboriginal girl — in nineteenth-century Australia.

About the Moderator

Heather Morris is the New York Times and international bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey. Born in New Zealand, she now lives in Australia, so as a Aussie and fellow international bestselling author, we couldn’t think of a better moderator for our event.

After majoring in Political Science, Heather worked in the Social Work Department while raising her three children. During this time, she also became a competitive athlete enjoying shot-put, discus, javelin, and hammer throwing. Her passion for storytelling compelled her to enroll in The Professional Scriptwriting Course through the Australian College of Journalism, after which she attended screenwriting courses, seminars and workshops, especially enjoying heroic storylines, several of which she adapted into screenplays.

And then she met Lale Sokolov, the inspiration behind the blockbuster sensations The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, who was transported to Auschwitz and put to work in the privileged position of Tätowierer – the tattooist – to mark his fellow prisoners, forever. One of them is a young woman, Gita, who steals his heart at first glance, and their friend, Cilka. Heather’s recounting of their heartbreaking, true stories is illuminating and unforgettable.

About Vintage Longbottom and Featured Wine

Hailing from New Zealand’s famous Marlborough region, wine has been one of Kim Longbottom’s life-long passions – and one she shared with her late husband Mark, a third-generation pastoralist with a natural affinity for the land. Together they planted their Padthaway property with vines in the early 1990s, releasing their first Henry’s Drive wines in 1998, the same year their daughter Margo was born.

Now joined by Margo in the next chapter of their family story – Vintage Longbottom – this inspiring mother and daughter enterprise has shifted focus to the premium South Australian regions of McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills.

Featured wine: Henry’s Drive is a classic South Australian Shiraz with aromas of spearmint, violets, and
blueberries. Held in medium-toast French oak for 16 months, the wine presents flavors of
blackberry, plum, and dark chocolate.

Order a bottle here, to be shipped directly to you.*

*Place your wine order by August 27, 2020, to receive in time to enjoy during the event (COVID delays notwithstanding).