Join us at First Light for an evening with Kerry Docherty, celebrating her memoir Selfish, a candid and searching account of what happens when a life built around others begins to ask something different.

A reception with the author will take place from 6:00 to 6:30 PM, followed by the conversation at 6:30 PM and a signing to close the evening.

Docherty, co-founder of the Faherty brand, writes from a moment of quiet but undeniable shift. After years spent tending to a marriage, a growing business, and the rhythms of family life, she finds herself asking questions that no longer stay in the background.

What does it mean to be good. Who decides what is selfish. And what happens when you begin to choose yourself anyway?

With sharp observation and disarming honesty, Selfish traces her movement toward a life that feels more fully her own. Along the way, she begins to carve out space for creativity, for poetry, for desire, even as those choices introduce new tensions and uncertainties.

The book has already resonated with early readers, with poet and #1 New York Times bestselling author Kate Baer calling it “a revelation… a brave reminder that choosing yourself isn’t betrayal, it’s truth-telling.”

Docherty will be joined by Mallary Tenore Tarpley, author of Slip, for a conversation on writing the self, the pressures placed on women to be everything to everyone, and the complicated freedom that can come with stepping outside those expectations.

About the Author

Kerry Docherty is a writer and cofounder of the lifestyle clothing brand Faherty, which she built alongside her husband and his identical twin. A graduate of Yale University and Pepperdine Law School, she is passionate about community building, sustainability, and creativity. She is also the author of the children’s book Somewhere, Right Now, featuring art by New York Times bestselling illustrator Suzie Mason.

Selfish is her first memoir.

About the Conversation Partner

Mallary Tenore Tarpley is the author of Slip, a memoir that blends personal narrative, reportage, and science to explore the under-discussed complexities of eating disorders and the imperfections of recovery.

She is an award-winning writer and assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches journalism and writing across disciplines. Her work moves between literary and journalistic forms, with essays and articles published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, and other major outlets. She has also worked extensively in journalism education and storytelling, including at The Poynter Institute and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, and has helped develop the concept of restorative narrative, a form of storytelling focused on how people move forward after trauma.

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