Book Reading: “Chosen” by Chandra Hoffman ’96

Cornell Club of Washington members are cordially invited to a dual book-reading and promotion on Saturday, September 18, at 4:00 p.m. Come meet Cornell alumna Chandra Hoffman, with her novel "Chosen," and USC novelist Ilie Ruby, with "The Language of Trees." Both novelists will be promoting their debut novels, and signing purchased copies of their books, at the Borders Books in Tysons Corner.

Chosen follows the story of Chloe Pinter, a director of a domestic adoption program, as she becomes entangled in a suspenseful web created by the needs, wants, hopes and frailties of three families involved in the adoption process. The book draws upon Hoffman's own experiences: as a former US Adoption Director living in Portland, Oregon, as a parent, and, early on, as an adoption aide worker who stepped into an unfamiliar environment that confronted her in a Romanian foster-care facility in Bucharest. The questions new parents sometimes face shape the backbone of this book: how does parenthood change us? How do the challenges we face shape our growth, as people and as parents? Is the reality we face every day unified or separate from our initial preconceptions of an idealistic life? For more information, check out Hoffman's website: http://www.chandrahoffman.com/books..

The Language of Trees is a constellation of love stories that takes us beyond the tangible world through spiritual realms as it incorporates local lore and mysticism against the backdrop of the Seneca Indians. This haunting novel follows the lives of the Ellis and Shongo families in their small town of Canandaigua, New York, as they embark on a search for a missing teenage girl with the help of the spirit of her little brother. Long-held secrets are revealed as they navigate the depths of guilt and mourning, and finally the extemporal nature and the healing power of love and second chances. Ruby takes us into her own memories of the Canandaigua Lake region, where she spent her childhood summers. An adoptive mother to three children from Ethiopia, Ruby is the winner of several awards for fiction, as well as being a painter and poet. For more information, check out Ruby's website: www.ilieruby.com.