BELFAST — Left Bank Books, in downtown Belfast, invites the public to an evening of conversation with two award-winning novelists, J. Courtney Sullivan and Ann Packer, on Friday, July 26, at 6 p.m.

The free event is to celebrate Sullivan’s most recent novel, The Cliffs, a story of family, secrets, ghosts, and homecoming set in Maine. The Cliffs is the July book chosen by Reese’s Book Club and was named by The New York Times as a “Best Book of the Month.”

The Cliffs tells the story of Jane Flanagan, a Harvard archivist who returns home to Maine when both her career and marriage are threatened. There, she becomes involved in researching an oceanside Victorian house that has intrigued her for decades. The story she uncovers — of lovers lost at sea, shattering loss, artistic awakening, historical artifacts stolen and sold, and the long shadow of colonialism — is richly imagined.

Sullivan’s earlier work, which has been translated into seventeen languages, includes the novels Commencement, Maine, Engagements, Saints for All Occasions, and Friends and Strangers, which was a Read with Jenna pick and included on countless national “Best Book” lists.

Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, New York, Real Simple, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among many others. In 2017, she wrote the forewords to new editions of two of her favorite classic novels — Anne of Green Gables and Little Women.

Ann Packer, a 1993 recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts award and a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, has written two collections of short fiction and three bestselling novels: The Children’s Crusade, Songs Without Words, and The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, which received the Kate Chopin Literary Award, among many other prizes and honors. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker and in the O. Henry Prize Stories and anthologies, and her novels have been published around the world.

Reservations, which are strongly recommended, can be made by calling the bookshop (207.338.9009) or emailing: info@leftbankbookshop.com. Ample free parking is available in front of the shop and in an adjacent city lot.