Nashua’s One City, One Book Title Revealed

The 2012 title for the Nashua Public Library's tenth annual Nashua Reads: One City, One Book program is  “When Madeline Was Young” by Jane Hamilton.

With support from the Friends of the , Jane Hamilton will come to Nashua to speak and answer questions about the book. The event will be held at the Dion Center at Rivier College on Sunday, October 21. Tickets will be available at (88 Main Street) during the Taste of Downtown on June 6, and at the Nashua Public Library. They are also available online at www.mktix.com/npl.

About the Book
When Aaron Maciver’s beautiful young wife, Madeline, suffers a head injury in a bicycle crash, she is left with the mental capabilities of a six-year-old. In the years that follow, Aaron and his second wife care for Madeline with deep tenderness and devotion as they raise two children of their own. This rich and loving novel offers an honest and exquisite portrait of how a family tragedy forever shapes the boundaries of love.

Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Donna Seaman said that with this book "Hamilton affirms her status as one of our most magnetic and provocative novelists by creating a profound and enveloping matrix of moral dilemmas that revolve around a single crucial conundrum, how best to do good."

About the Author

Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin. The Atlantic Monthly has called her “among the most graceful and thoughtful writers to work the fertile ground that is the Midwestern family.”

Hamilton’s short stories have appeared in Harper's magazine. The Book of Ruth won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel and was a selection of the Oprah Book Club, as was her second novel, A Map of the World.

Other works by Hamilton include The Short History of a Prince, Disobedience, and Laura Ryder’s Masterpiece.

Get your copy now
With a grant from the Stearns fund, the Nashua Public Library has purchased over 50 copies of “When Madeline Was Young” for cardholders to borrow, including large-print and audio versions. In addition, two sets of 10 books each are available for borrowing by book groups. The book is also available for purchase at local bookstores.

About One City, One Book

The goal of the One City, One Book program is to get as many Nashuans as possible to read the same book and talk about it with friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Nashua’s One City, One Book project is in its tenth year. Previous selections included “Song Yet Sung,” “We Are All Welcome Here,” “Skeletons at the Feast,” “The Tortilla Curtain,” “Zorro,” “In the Heart of the Sea,” “The Kite Runner,” “Travels With Charley,”  and  “Empire Falls.” 

The idea of community reading programs originated in 1998, when the Washington Center for the Book sponsored "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book." For four days Russell Banks visited the community for programs and discussions about his book, "The Sweet Hereafter." In the years since, similar programs, under names like "One City, One Book," "The Big Read," and others, have been held throughout the US. 

About the Friends of the Library
The Friends of the Nashua Public Library encourage public support of the library, including gifts, endowments, memorials, and the donation of time and assistance by Nashuans to the library. 

The Friends provide special programs and services that expand and enrich the library’s regular budget. These “extras” include concerts, film series, readings, speakers, children’s programs, museum passes, materials, equipment, audiobooks, videogames, and more.   

For more information about the Nashua Reads program, contact Carol Luers Eyman at (603) 589-4610 or carol.eyman@nashualibrary.org, or visit www.nashuareads.com.