Authors Dan Simon and Shannon Bowring

Dan Simon, founder and editor-in-chief of Seven Stories Press, will be in conversation with Shannon Bowring, author of the Dalton trilogy, to discuss ASHLAND, his debut novel set in New Hampshire's Lakes Region.

Ashland is a deeply moving family story unfolding in richly evocative prose during the final decades of the American century. The story takes place in Ashland, New Hampshire, a former mill town in the lakes region, and is told in six voices, among them Carolyn, a twenty year old writer at a turning point in her life; Gordon, who arrives in Ashland in the twilight of his years; Andy, a local boy; Geoff, Carolyn's writing teacher at Plymouth State; and Edith, Gordon's wife, who is inadvertently Carolyn's spiritual guide and friend. Then there is Jennie, Carolyn's aunt, who seems to offer her a model for how to live. But things aren't always what they seem, and Carolyn must discover…