Author Emily Giffin returns to Naperville with new book

Naperville North High School alum Emily Giffin is set to visit her hometown to share her new novel, "All We Ever Wanted."

Now an internationally known best-selling author, Giffin has built her reputation on a string of blockbuster books, including "First Comes Love," "Something Borrowed" and "The One and Only."

Giffin's appearance, sponsored by Anderson's Bookshop, is at 7 p.m. Monday, July 2, at Community Christian Church, 1635 Emerson Lane, Naperville. Tickets are required and are available exclusively at EmilyGiffin2Andersons.brownpapertickets.com.

Giffin will discuss her new book, participate in a Q&A and sign copies.

In "All We Ever Wanted," Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville's elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton.

Yet sometimes the middle-class, small-town girl in Nina wonders whether she's strayed from the person she once was.

Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville's most prestigious private school.

Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn't always fit in - and her overprotective father doesn't help - but in most ways, she's a typical teenage girl, happy and thriving.

Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.

At the heart of the lies and scandal, Tom, Nina and Lyla are forced together - all questioning their closest relationships, asking themselves who they really are, and searching for the courage to live a life of true meaning.

For details on Giffin's appearance and other Anderson programs, visit andersonsbookshop.com or the store at 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville.