Suzanne Uttaro Samuels in Conversation with Laura Spence-Ash at The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood in NJ
Join author Suzanne Uttaro Samuels, author of new historical fiction novel Seeds of the Pomegranate, in conversation with author Laura Spence-Ash (Beyond That, The Sea) at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood in Ridgewood, NJ on September 14th, 2025 at 2pm.
Events will be available to purchase at the event.
EVENT LOCATION:
113 Cottage Place
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
About Seeds of the Pomegranate:
A gritty story of a woman learning to survive in 20th century Gangland New York
In early 20th-century Sicily, noblewoman Mimi Inglese, a talented painter, dreams of escaping the rigid expectations of her class by gaining admission to the Palermo Art Academy. But when she contracts tuberculosis, her ambitions are shattered. With the Sicilian nobility in decline, she and her family leave for New York City in search of a fresh start.
Instead of opportunity, Mimi is pulled into the dark underbelly of city life and her father’s money laundering scheme. When he is sent to prison, desperation forces her to put her artistic talent to a new use—counterfeiting $5 bills to keep her family from starvation and, perhaps, to one day reclaim her dream of painting. But as Gangland violence escalates and tragedy strikes, Mimi must summon the courage to flee before she is trapped forever in a life she never wanted.
About Suzanne Uttaro Samuels:
Suzanne Uttaro Samuels’ award-winning stories and essays have appeared in anthologies and print and online literary magazines. Seeds of the Pomegranate is her debut novel. The prequel to Seeds, The Orphans’ Wheel, set during the tumultuous 19th-century Italian Wars of Independence, is forthcoming from Sibylline Press. A lifelong resident of New York City, Suzanne now resides in the Adirondack Mountains.
About Beyond That, The Sea & Author Laura Spence-Ash
Scared and angry, Bea arrives in Boston to meet the Gregorys, who fold her into their world. She adjusts to their affluent lifestyle and grows close to both Gregory boys, one older and one younger, filling in the gap between them. Before long, before she even realizes it, life in America feels more natural to her than her quiet, spare world back in England.
As Bea comes into herself and relaxes into summers on the coast in Maine, the girl she had been begins to fade away, until, abruptly, she is called home to London when the war ends.
Desperate as she is not to leave the Gregorys behind, Bea dutifully retraces her trip across the Atlantic. As she returns to post-war London, the memory of her American family stays with her, never fully letting her go as she tries to move on, pursuing love and a life of her own.
As we follow Bea over time, navigating between her two worlds, Beyond That, the Sea emerges as a beautifully written, absorbing novel, full of grace and heartache, forgiveness and understanding, loss and love.
Laura Spence-Ash’s debut novel, Beyond That, the Sea, was published by Celadon Books in March 2023. The novel has garnered praise from Meg Wolitzer, Ann Napolitano, and Claire Messud, among others. The New York Times said, “The plot of Laura Spence-Ash’s Beyond That, the Sea is rooted in the home-front upheavals of World War II, but it’s also a timeless exploration of what it means to create a family, of how dreams can die and be reborn in surprising ways.” Laura was named one of the 10 Writers to Watch in Spring 2023 by Publishers Weekly. The novel was chosen as a GMA Buzz Pick, an Indie Next Pick for April 2023, and it received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Laura’s short fiction has appeared in One Story, New England Review, Crazyhorse, and elsewhere. She was the founding editor of CRAFT, an online literary journal, and she has taught for Rutgers University, the Princeton Adult School, and One Story. She has received fellowships and support from MacDowell, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference. She earned her MFA in Fiction from Rutgers-Newark, where she received the Presidential Fellowship, and she lives in New Jersey.
