Debut novelist Rose Smith celebrates the launch of The Shared Life of Egan and Lucian in conversation with Maya Perez.

Doors at 6:00 PM · Conversation at 6:30 PM · Signing to follow · November 5 · First Light Books

Austin writer Rose Smith sits down with fellow Austin writer Maya Perez to celebrate the release of her debut novel. Expect a conversation about twins, islands, and the many kinds of love that hold a family together, followed by audience Q&A and a book signing.​

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THE SHARED LIFE OF EGAN AND LUCIAN

An epic and engrossing debut novel about identical twin brothers, the woman they both love, and the secrets at the heart of the beautiful, rugged Maine island they call home

The McCauleys have raised their twin sons on Shep’s Island, just off the coast of Maine: Egan wants to be a professional athlete, Lucian a painter, following in the footsteps of their complicated and distant mother. Growing up in the wake of a childhood accident that marked both boys—one physically, one emotionally—they are inseparable until Lucian quietly begins to wonder who he might be with no mirror image walking beside him.

On a trip abroad, Lucian meets Lea, who follows him home to idyllic Shep’s Island. When a shocking family secret comes to light, Lea flees back to the mainland—not with Lucian but with his twin, Egan, whose connection with Lea is immediate and undeniable.

The years will pass with Lea caught between the two brothers. Even when she decides to begin a life on Shep’s Island with one of them, fate will continue to bring these three into one another’s orbit. The island, with its shifting shoreline and harsh beauty, echoes the changing colors of their familial and romantic love. Rose Smith’s debut novel feels like an instant classic as it traces the McCauleys across the seasons and the decades, mapping the slow erosion and quiet resilience of people who have loved each other imperfectly and at great cost.

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About the author

‍Rose Smith's writing can be found in The Missouri Review, Craft, Five Points, and The Swannanoa Review. She is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives in Austin, Texas. The Shared Life of Egan and Lucian is her debut novel.

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About the conversation partner

‍Writer Maya Perez is an Assistant Professor of Practice and Screenwriting Area Head at The University of Texas at Austin.

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