Left Bank Books, in downtown Belfast, invites the public to hear Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. Russo will be celebrating the previous day’s release of his new novel, Under the Falls. The ticketed event will take place at The First Church in Belfast, which is located across the street from the bookshop. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the event will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are available through Eventbrite.

Under the Falls is a propulsive literary thriller—a new genre for Russo—in which he explores flawed and soul-searching characters in the small, dying town of Stone Mountain in rural Appalachia. When Tyler Sinclair left Stone Mountain at eighteen, he had no plans of returning and disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Almost twenty years later, he’s the front man of a famous band and a Nashville icon who returns to his childhood home against his better judgement to perform a one-night-only benefit concert to support an old friend.

"In this setting, Russo explores multiple themes—perceived betrayals, small-town police, youthful friendships—and weaves them into a page-turning mystery," said a Left Bank news release.

On the night of the concert, which goes horribly wrong, a pivotal character dies unexpectedly, Tyler is nearly killed in a suspicious car accident, and the “sinister element underpinning Stone Mountain’s communal decline” all come unraveling.

Russo is the author of ten previous novels, two collections of stories, a memoir, and an essay collection. In 2023, his novel Straight Man was adapted into the television series “Lucky Hank, and two of his earlier books were adapted for screen and starred Paul Newman: Empire Falls and Nobody’s Fool.

Admission to the event is by donation.

Questions? Call Left Bank Books at 207-338-9009, or email: info@leftbankbookshop.com. Ample free parking is available in a city parking lot on Church Street across from the Church and on adjacent streets, according to the book store.