Garrett’s Bastille Day Kicks Off Readers Meet the Author Series

The 2023-2024 Readers Meet the Author series begins on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 12:15 p.m. on the first floor of Moody Memorial Library in the Schumacher Flex Commons. Dr. Greg Garrett, professor of English and the Carole McDaniel Hanks Chair in Literature and Culture, will discuss his recently published novel, “Bastille Day” (Paraclete Press, 2023). A light reception and book signing will follow Dr. Garrett’s presentation. The Baylor Bookstore will be on hand with copies of Bastille Day for sale.

“Bastille Day” follows veteran TV journalist Calvin Jones who travels to Paris to work with an old producer he collaborated with a decade earlier while covering the Iraq War. There he meets Nadia, a Saudi woman who is soon to be wed as part of a family-arranged marriage. Cal falls for Nadia, and she for him, each experiencing a depth of love neither believed possible. Yet, when Cal is thrown back into the thralls of war reporting and as the day for Nadia’s arranged marriage approaches - will this love that could heal them both be realized?

“‘Bastille' Day’ is a novel about broken people who are trying to figure out how to go on with their lives,” said Garrett. “The novel grapples with the depth of fear characteristic of those who have lost much, such that, if they allow themselves to love deeply, it could break them.”

The Readers Meet the Author series is presented by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President, and is hosted by the Baylor Libraries. To see the other authors selected as part of this year’s series, visit provost.web.baylor.edu/rma.