Wellesley Books

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Here's what Literary Hub had to say about Real Animals by Emaline Atwood coming out 7/7, our event with the author is Thursday, 7/23 at 7PM, details in the link below.

"This is a book that is a caliber above and beyond what we have come to expect from the young-twenties-girl-bildungsroman. There’s men, yes, and s*x, a lot of it, and yearning to be understood, and for power and a place in the world, but A Real Animal is about the wild, deep, feral core of those themes. It’s about something subterranean, underneath one’s lived experience, underneath, even, one’s trauma. The book follows the protagonist from college, when she experiences a horrible s*xual assault, through the next decade, as she builds and breaks relationships, as she builds and breaks a life. There is no straight line. There is no healing. But the book has this feeling about it, like there’s so much within the pages that’s just bursting to get out: a violent and powerful urge for something, for more survival, for more agency, to express one’s pain, to feel better. A Real Animal is as raw and visceral as an open-mouthed scream: you hear it in your bones. You can see its teeth. As recommended in Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026 list." –Julia Hass, Book Marks Associate Editor Lit Hub.

Author Event: Emeline Atwood - "A Real Animal" Author Event: Emeline Atwood - "A Real Animal" Thu, 7/23/2026 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm Place: Wellesley Books 82 Central St Wellesley, MA 02482-5714 Buy tickets to Author Event: Emeline Atwood - "A Real Animal" Prize-winning writer Emeline Atwood joins us to discuss her debut novel, A Real Animal, which T...

Wellesley Books is thrilled to invite you to a luncheon with Dear Committee Members author Julie Schumacher to celebrate the release of her new book, Patient, Female next Friday, June 12th, at noon.

Exquisitely honest and expertly crafted, Patient, Female renders—with dark humor and wit—the foibles of human behavior and our endearing imperfections. Each protagonist—ranging from girlhood to senescence—receives her own indelible voice as she navigates social blunders, generational misunderstandings, and the absurdity of the human experience.

"Shrewd, sage, and so darkly funny." --Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had

Upcoming Author Event Saturday, July 18th, at 6 PM

North Woods author Daniel Mason joins us to discuss his new book, Country People, the story of a year in the life of a family as they strike out into the unknown (aka Vermont).

Joyous, absurd, and life-affirming, Country People is a luminous exploration of marriage and parenthood, the nature of belief and the power of stories, and the ways in which we find connection in an increasingly fragmented world.

"Wonderful—full of joy—and exactly the kind of reading experience we could all do with right now . . . the book of the summer." —Mick Herron, bestselling author of Slow Horses