Author Event with Jennifer Chiaverini/The World's Fair Quilt

Join Anderson’s Bookshop for an author event with Jennifer Chiaverini, to celebrate the release of her newest book, The World's Fair Quilt, on Monday, April 14th at 7:00 pm in our Naperville store.

Event Format

We will begin checking you in approximately 30 minutes before the start time. After a presentation and Q&A with the author, the line will form in numbered order with the following guidelines:

• Posed photo with your camera taken by our staff

• There is a limit of 2 books from home to be signed (unless otherwise stated)
  

• There is a limit of 1 personalization of the new book only (unless otherwise stated)

Pre-registration is required for this event because space is limited.

More about The World's Fair Quilt:

In the new novel from bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini’s beloved Elm Creek Quilts series, when financial difficulties threaten Sylvia Bergstrom Compson’s legacy, she draws courage and resilience from memories of an extraordinary quilt competition.

A week before the launch of Elm Creek Orchards, a new venture Sylvia hopes will earn much-needed revenue for her nineteenth-century rural Pennsylvania estate, her friend and colleague Summer Sullivan, curator of the Waterford Historical Society’s quilt gallery, requests a special favor. When Sylvia and her elder sister were teenagers, they entered a quilt in the Sears National Quilt Contest for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition. With a tantalizing grand prize of $1,200—more than the average annual income at the time—the unprecedented contest offered its 25,000 participants the opportunity for artistic expression, the thrill of competition, and fame, with the finalists’ quilts prominently displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair. As part of Summer’s exhibit, the Bergstrom sisters’ World’s Fair Quilt would illuminate an almost forgotten chapter of women’s history during the difficult years of the Great Depression.

Sylvia grants Summer’s request, though with misgivings. Neglected in the attic for decades, the fragile antique requires careful cleaning and repair—and not all of the memories it evokes are pleasant. Threads of fierce rivalry are woven into the fabric of the sisters’ relationship, but their aunties insist that they collaborate on a single entry. Yet as their masterpiece takes shape, the reluctant partners are surprised to discover in each other an artistic kindred spirit, and perhaps even a friend—until a troubling secret kept with the best of intentions threatens to shatter their newfound sisterhood.

As Summer prepares the World’s Fair Quilt for exhibit, Sylvia contemplates its lessons from the past, and in them, finds hope for the future.

About the Author: 

Jennifer Chiaverini is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-five novels, including critically acclaimed historical fiction and the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series. She, her husband, and their two sons call Madison, Wisconsin, home.

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Please read these Event Policies carefully:

Anderson’s Bookshop reserves the right to change the format of this event at any time in coordination with the author and publisher. Anderson’s Bookshop assumes no responsibility or liability for any personal injury or other loss you may incur as a result of your decision to attend an event, including the transmission of Covid-19 or related illnesses. 

Failure to treat all participants and staff with courtesy and respect may result in your expulsion from the event.