Allen Johnson, News and Record editorial page editor, will sit down with novelist Elaine Neil Orr to discuss her new book, Swimming Between Worlds.

Set in the 1960’s, Swimming Between Worlds follows Tacker Hart who returns in disgrace to Winston Salem N.C. after being fired from a prestigious architectural assignment in West Africa. Yet the culture and people he grew to admire in Africa have left their mark on him. Adrift, he manages his father’s grocery store and becomes reacquainted with a girl he barely knew growing up.

Kate Monroe’s parents have died, leaving her the family home and the right connections in her Southern town. But a trove of disturbing letters sends her searching for the truth behind the comfortable life she’s been bequeathed.

On the same morning but at different moments, Tacker and Kate encounter a young African-American, Gaines Townson, and their stories converge. As Winston-Salem is pulled into the tumultuous 1960s, these three Americans find themselves at the center of the civil rights struggle, coming to terms with the legacies of their pasts as they search for an ennobling future.

A book signing will follow the presentation.