
Sheila Grinell Brings PROMISE IN THE DESERT to Foothills Library in Glendale, AZ
Sheila Grinell came to Arizona to build a science museum. A dozen years later, she took on a new challenge: to begin a second career as a novelist. What was it like for Sheila to start over again? Join us on Sept. 23 as she shares lesson learned, and her new novel Promise in the Desert.
Books will be available for purchase at the event. For more information, please visit Foothill Library’s events page here.
About Promise in the Desert:
In the desert of Arizona, Bee and Sydelle become unlikely friends.
Far away from her father’s fraudulent schemes in Pennsylvania, 22-year-old Bee Wells now works for an Arizona real estate company developing the world’s first pandemic-proof community. When Bee’s boss sends her to befriend Sydelle Hammer, 92, whose family has ranched on the land adjacent to the planned community for 150 years, the two strike up a friendship. But Bee soon discovers that both her boss and an environmental activist are cooking up shady deals to acquire the ranch. When Sydelle has a mini-stroke, the scavengers start to circle. Disgusted, Bee is compelled to defend her friend. At a crossroads, she must take a stand about the best way forward for the land, for Sydelle—and for herself.
About Sheila Grinell:
Sheila Grinell earned a B.A. in English literature at Harvard University and a Certificate in creative writing at Phoenix College. Her debut novel, Appetite, was published in 2016 and a second novel, The Contract, in 2019. After a 40-year career in science museums, Grinell now gives talks at libraries and bookstores and engages with readers on social media about “writing as a second act.” A resident of metro Phoenix since 1993, she has served as Writer-in-Residence for the Mesa Public Library system and was inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame.
