Author Talk Series: Wiebke von Carolsfeld and Jean Kwok at Boston Public Library

How to survive the unthinkable? This is the question nine-year-old Tom has to face after witnessing his parent’s murder-suicide. After the horrific event, Tom refuses to speak. At first, he moves in with his childless Aunt Sonya, but she is ill equipped to deal with the traumatized boy. Before long, Tom is forced to move again, this time to Claremont Street in downtown Toronto, where he shares a run-down house with his mercurial Aunt Rose and his reckless yet endearing Uncle Will. As the seasons change, Tom’s silence becomes a powerful presence, allowing this fractured family to hear one another for the first time— and for Tom to finally find a home. Claremont is a gripping story of one family’s journey through grief and toward healing.

Wiebke von Carolsfeld is a Montreal-based writer and filmmaker, who has directed three critically acclaimed feature films (Marion Bridge, starring Molly Parker and introducing Ellen Page, STAY with Taylor Schilling and Aidan Quinn; and The Saver, introducing Imagyn Cardinal). Her films have been distributed theatrically across Canada, the US and beyond, winning numerous awards, including Best First Feature at TIFF, in Sudbury and in Verona, inclusion in Canada’s Top Ten, Best Screenplay from the Chlotrudis Society along with nominations from the Canadian Screen Awards, the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild of Canada and the American Indian Film Institute. She is also a renowned feature film editor and has taught internationally classes on screenwriting, filmmaking as well as the creative process general. Claremont is her first novel.

A deeply moving story of family, secrets, identity, and longing, Searching for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone—especially those we love.

Jean Kwok is the New York Times and international bestselling author of Girl in Translation and Mambo in Chinatown. Her work has been published in eighteen countries and is taught in universities, colleges, and high schools across the world. She has been selected for numerous honors, including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and earned an MFA from Columbia University. She is fluent in Chinese, Dutch, and English, and currently lives in the Netherlands.