Book Launch Event - Rachel Cochran - The Gulf - with Timothy Schaffert

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Tuesday, Jun 13, 2023  5:30pm - 6:30pm

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Arts

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JOIN US ON TUESDAY, JUNE 13TH AT 5:30 TO HELP AUTHOR AND UNL PROFESSOR RACHEL COCHRAN LAUNCH HER NEW BOOK THE GULF! RACHEL WILL BE JOINED IN CONVERSATION WITH AUTHOR TIMOTHY SCHAFFERT!

About the Book:
In Parson, Texas, a small town ravaged by a devastating hurricane and the Vietnam War, twenty-nine-year-old Lou is diligently renovating a decaying old mansion for Miss Kate, the elderly neighbor who has always been like a mother to her. Mourning her brother’s death in Vietnam, Lou dreams of enjoying a more peaceful future in Parson. But those hopes are crushed when Miss Kate is murdered, and no one but Lou seems to care about finding the killer.

The situation becomes complicated when Joanna, Miss Kate’s long-estranged daughter and Lou’s first love, arrives in Parson—not to learn more about her mother’s death but for the house. Her arrival unearths sinister secrets involving the history of the town and its residents . . . revelations that may be the key to helping Lou discover the truth about Miss Kate’s death and her killer.

A gorgeously written, gripping story of forbidden love and devastating secrets that is a surprising twist on the traditional small-town story, The Gulf is a riveting and unsettling mystery that holds up a mirror to the values—and failures—of America.

About the Author:
Rachel Cochran was raised in Texas and received her PHD in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She currently teaches literature and creative writing at UNL and is also an assistant editor of Machete, an imprint of Ohio State University Press. Her short stories and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in The Rumpus, The Masters Review, and have won the Mari Sandoz/Prairie Schooner fiction award, and the New Ohio Review‘s nonfiction contest.

About the Guest:
Timothy Schaffert is author of six novels, most recently THE PERFUME THIEF (Doubleday). His seventh, THE TITANIC SURVIVORS BOOK CLUB, is forthcoming. He is the co-editor of Zero Street Fiction, the LGBTQ+ fiction series at the University of Nebraska Press. He is a professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Nebraska.

Book Reviews:
“The Gulf by Rachel Cochran is an exquisite and gripping novel that plumbs the depths of both thrilling and devastating secrets that keep people rooted in place as well as the rot that can infect the heart of a community. Cochran approaches trauma as a living, breathing aura rather than a static wound, and grapples with the stormy nature of childhood memories. The novel is also a moving testament to families of choice so commonly necessary for those deemed outsiders. The Gulf is a page turner to be savored; Cochran is a master of both prose and plot.” — Ilana Masad, author of All My Mother’s Lovers

“Such a moody and atmospheric novel, full of plot twists, confrontations, untold truths. All the ghosts in The Gulf, real and imagined, become a sign of life in this dying town. Lou, irascible but honest, is an utterly unique character, her reality shaped by the mysteries of the past. I loved this gothic place and its duplicitous people – tensions are stirring from the start, and they never let up.” — Timothy Schaffert, author of The Perfume Thief