Gail Lehrman will read excerpts from her debut novel Across Seward Park. Set against the backdrop of 20th Century Manhattan, Across Seward Park weaves a riveting tale of family, ambition, and self-discovery. It’s an unforgettable story of love, sacrifice, and the enduring power of kinship in the face of adversity. Author discussion and audience Q&A after the reading.

7 PM All Ages FREE: REGISTRATION REQUESTED, please consider donating at checkout.

Gail Lehrman is an expatriate New Yorker relocated to the Pacific Northwest. Though she abandoned the canyons of Manhattan for the mountains of Oregon, Gail never lost her fascination with her native city and its melting pot history. When life finally gave her time and space to focus on her writing, she found that New York's voices still sang in her ear. Those voices are the force behind her debut novel, Across Seward Park.

Gail holds a B.A. and M.A in English Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. Now a frequent hiker in the lovely Columbia River Gorge, Gail's also an enthusiastic participant in the rich literary community of Portland, Oregon.

About Seward Park

New York’s Lower East Side, 1912.

When idealistic young Irving Friedman and his beautiful, hard-nosed sister Miriam are forced to leave their brutal father’s home, they must make their way amid the sprawling tenements of the Lower East Side. Trapped in the garment industry’s backbreaking sweatshops, Irving is swept into the dangerous world of union organizing, while Miriam finds unexpected new love. As the years pass and one generation yields to the next, the siblings’ hard-won success is imperiled when an old family secret is unearthed that puts Irv on a collision course with Miriam’s ambitious daughter Shelly. Will secrets from the past destroy their family’s bond, or will they find a way to forgive?