Speaker Series: Join us to celebrate Claire Holroyde’s debut novel, “The Effort,” at a special speaker series for First Friday at the Merion Cricket Club.
Moderator: Margaretta Walton
Capacity: Hybrid in-person and virtual event with 60pp in-person in the Ballroom and 100pp virtual on Zoom

Review from the Moderator:
This is a thoughtful and thought provoking novel. It is far from simplistic, but easy to read with welcomed moments of levity, and much of it will stick with me for quite some time. The opening lines drew me in, and then Claire Holroyde's characters had me hooked, rooting for them and consequently all of "us." The race against the comet's impending impact is the acute tension throughout the novel, commanding the world's attention, but not far under the surface is Holroyde's commentary of the no-less-deadly race against our own impact on the planet.

Each character could be a book in their own right (and I wish I had more time with them but this book would be too long), and bringing them together in this intense story added a breadth of diversity and dimension to an already deep (and deeply researched) story line.

The interwoven themes and stories of the book make for a lot to keep track of—dark comets, climate change, societal fractures, political tensions, international agencies, the military—but through it all there are still many moments of intimacy with each character's personal thoughts and experiences. And that's one of the beautiful things about this book. In the broad spectrum of humanity's darkness, these characters each remind us of the light that can be found.

THE EFFORT is available at Main Point Books in Wayne, PA with author signature! Purchase through Main Point and support the local indie bookstore in our community.

Main Point Books: 116 N. Wayne Avenue, Wayne, PA 19087
(484) 580-6978 | www.mainpointbooks.com