Author event! Loren Stephens with Aimee Liu

We’re hosting authors Loren Stephens and Aimee Liu for a discussion of their books, ALL SORROWS CAN BE BORNE and GLORIOUS BOY!

Event format: 30 minute chat, followed by audience Q&A and book signing

About the books:

Inspired by true events, All Sorrows Can Be Borne is the story of Noriko Ito, a Japanese woman faced with unimaginable circumstances that force her to give up her son to save her husband. Set in Hiroshima, Osaka, and the badlands of eastern Montana and spanning the start of World War II to 1982, this breathtaking novel is told primarily in the voice of Noriko, a feisty aspiring actress who fails her audition to enter the Takarazuka Theater Academy. Instead, she takes the “part” of a waitress at a European-style tearoom in Osaka where she meets the mysterious and handsome manager, Ichiro Uchida. They fall in love over music and marry. Soon after Noriko becomes pregnant during their seaside honeymoon, Ichiro is diagnosed with tuberculosis destroying their dreams.

Noriko gives birth to a healthy baby boy, but to give the child a better life, Ichiro convinces her to give the toddler to his older sister and her Japanese-American husband, who live in Montana. Noriko holds on to the belief that this inconceivable sacrifice will lead to her husband’s recovery. What happens next is unexpected and shocking and will affect Noriko for the rest of her life.

Eighteen years later, her son enlists in the U.S. Navy and is sent to Japan. Finally, he is set to meet his birth mother, but their reunion cracks open the pain and suffering Noriko has endured.

Glorious Boy is a tale of war and devotion, longing and loss, and the power of love to prevail. Set in India’s remote Andaman Islands before and during WWII, the story revolves around a mysteriously mute four-year-old who vanishes on the eve of the Japanese occupation. Little Ty’s parents, Shep and Claire, will go to any lengths to rescue him, but neither is prepared for the brutal and soul-changing odyssey that awaits them.

About the authors:

Loren Stephens has had essays and short stories published in literary journals and newspapers, including the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, The St. Louis Jewish Light, The MacGuffin, The Montreal Review, Forge Literary Magazine, Crack the Spine, Summerset Review, and Umbrella Factory Magazine.

The memoir, “Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Rouge,” by Cliff Simon with Loren Stephens was named one of the best titles by an independent press by Kirkus Reviews. She is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and in 2021 she published her debut novel, All Sorrows Can Be Borne, with Rare Bird Books. A graduate of Cornell University and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, she has also produced numerous documentaries, among them “Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist,” for PBS and “Sojourner Truth: Aint I a Woman.”

Loren is president of the ghostwriting companies, Write Wisdom, and Bright Star Memoirs. Her company website is www. Writewisdom.com and her author website is lorenmstephens.com

Aimee Liu is the bestselling author of four novels, most recently Glorious Boy, as well as the memoirs Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders and Solitaire and numerous other nonfiction works. Her books have received a Literary Guild Super Release and Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award and have been translated into more than a dozen languages.