Author Maura Roosevelt will read from her critically acclaimed debut, Baby of he Family. Roosevelt's solid debut dissects a privileged family wrestling with the ghost of an imperious patriarch and dwindling fortune. Opening in 2003, the saga revolves primarily around three children of Roger Whitby Jr. Roosevelt artfully weaves together multiple perspectives to create a portrait of an American family, and an American dream gone awry. Baby of the Family is a book about family secrets—how they define us, bind us together, and threaten to blow us (and more) apart—as well as an amusing and heartwarming look at the various ways in which a family can be created.

Maura Roosevelt holds an MFA from NYU in fiction writing and a BA from Harvard. For the past four years, she has been a full-time lecturer in NYU's essay writing program, and currently teaches writing at the University of Southern California. Her work has been published in places like The Nation and Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Baby of the Family was developed from a short story with the same title, which was published in Joyland magazine and given an award for "Most Read Story of 2014." Maura is also the great-granddaughter of Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt.