A Recap of An Evening with Amy Meyerson: The Water Lies
The Chicago Literary Salon — January 6, 2026
On a candlelit winter evening, guests gathered around a long dinner table for a conversation that felt both intimate and expansive—one that moved fluidly between literature, motherhood, memory, and the quiet power of intuition.
Hosted by The Chicago Literary Salon, the evening centered on Amy Meyerson’s The Water Lies, with bestselling author Christina Clancy guiding a discussion that felt less like a Q&A and more like a shared exhale. Christina opened by reflecting on what it means to find community through books—especially now: “Books are one of the best ways we create community—especially as we’re all trying to go more analog.”
Amy described the novel as a story rooted in motherhood, not as a single experience but as a spectrum. “I wanted to capture different stages of motherhood—the beginning and, in a way, the end—and put them in conversation with each other,” she explained, noting how the book pairs a pregnant mother with a grieving mother in her seventies. That pairing wasn’t accidental—it was the point. As Amy put it, “There are ways society treats older women that feel strangely parallel to how it treats pregnant women.”
Setting played a starring role in the evening, too. The Venice Canals aren’t just atmospheric—they’re essential to the story’s tension around privacy, exposure, and perception. Amy spoke about what drew her there: “Everyone leaves their windows open. You’re constantly on display—and that choice felt essential to the story.” Even the canals’ maintenance became metaphor. “The canals aren’t organic. They can’t exist without constant maintenance—and that ended up carrying so much thematic weight.” It was one of those moments where the room could feel the story deepening in real time.
As the conversation moved toward instinct and credibility—particularly the way women’s emotions are perceived—Amy named something many guests recognized instantly: “You can’t have a big reaction as a pregnant person without people assuming you’re being irrational.” The novel explores what it means to trust yourself when the world keeps nudging you toward self-doubt. “We’re taught to doubt our instincts, especially as women—and especially as mothers,” she said, a line that felt like it landed in the center of the table.
Motherhood, in Amy’s telling, was not sentimental—it was deeply human. She spoke about fear with the kind of clarity that only comes from lived experience: “I didn’t think about death nearly as much before I had kids as I do now.” And about control—how becoming a parent forces you to confront what you cannot protect against. “You can shape your children, but you can’t control them—and that’s terrifying.” The room was quiet in that particular way that signals recognition.
The evening’s discussion naturally expanded into fertility, IVF, and reproductive planning, with guests from Ova Egg Freezing contributing insight and lived experience. The takeaway was both sobering and oddly relieving: if fertility struggles feel isolating, it’s because we rarely talk about how common they are. “Infertility affects one in six people,” one speaker shared. “Once you start the conversation, you realize everyone knows someone.” Another truth followed—one that cut through years of cultural mythmaking: “Reproduction is incredibly inefficient—it’s luck, timing, and consistency all colliding.”
Throughout the night, Amy also pulled back the curtain on craft—how instinct guides the process long before meaning catches up. “You make choices by instinct, and later you realize why they were the right choices,” she said. And in a line every writer in the room felt in their bones: “Every book has a fatal flaw you have to write your way out of.”
By the time books were signed and guests lingered over final sips, it was clear this was more than an author event. It was a reminder of what happens when readers gather not only to discuss a story, but to recognize their own in it—when a dinner table becomes a place where conversation lingers, and the stories we read open the door to the stories we’re living.
January 6, 2026 @ 6pm
Step into the haunting canals of Venice Beach with internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson, as she joins us for an intimate evening of suspense, storytelling, and connection at the Chicago Literary Salon—in conversation with acclaimed author Christi Clancy.
In her gripping new novel, The Water Lies, Meyerson unravels a chilling mystery through the dual perspectives of two mothers—one grieving her adult daughter, the other raising a child who may have witnessed her death. What begins as a toddler’s outburst in a coffee shop unspools into a harrowing investigation, a story of maternal instinct, buried secrets, and the quiet menace lurking behind idyllic facades.
As Tessa and Barb forge an unlikely bond in their pursuit of the truth, The Water Lies invites readers to question what we’re willing to see—and what we choose to ignore.
Your evening includes:
A signed hardcover copy of The Water Lies
A thoughtfully curated menu by Nic + Juniors, featuring:
A welcome cocktail
Heavy hors d'oeuvres
A riveting conversation with Amy Meyerson exploring memory, motherhood, and the secrets that surface when we trust our intuition
Printed conversation prompts designed to foster meaningful dialogue—no prior reading required
Whether you're drawn to tightly plotted thrillers, layered emotional storytelling, or simply crave a beautifully executed evening out, this salon promises to leave you questioning what lies beneath the surface.
Seating is extremely limited. Reserve your seat today.
About The Water Lies:
Internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson takes readers on a harrowing journey where two mothers—one of a woman who drowned and the other of a toddler who might know what happened to her—are the only ones searching for the truth.
Heavily pregnant with her second child, Tessa Irons has enough on her mind without her toddler throwing tantrums at the local coffee shop. The boy is inconsolable, shouting “Gigi!” to a woman Tessa’s never seen before—and never will again. The next morning, the woman’s body is dredged up from the canal outside the Ironses’ posh Venice Beach home, and Tessa’s gut tells her it’s no coincidence.
Barb Geller refuses to believe that her daughter’s death was just some drunken accident. She heads to California for answers, where she crosses paths with Tessa. Together they hunt for the truth, certain they’ll find a connection between their children.
But the police don’t believe them. Tessa’s husband dismisses her worries as pregnancy jitters, and even though people are always watching along the canals, no one saw a thing. Tessa and Barb only have each other, their intuition, and the creeping sense of danger that grows with every shocking revelation.
About Amy Meyerson:
Amy Meyerson is the acclaimed author of the internationally bestselling The Bookshop of Yesterdays, The Imperfects, and The Love Scribe. Her books have been translated into eleven languages and are frequently chosen for best-of lists, including lists from Good Morning America, Publishers Weekly, The Christian Science Monitor, Library Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Texas Library Association’s Lariat List, among others. Meyerson completed her graduate work in creative writing at the University of Southern California, where she now teaches in the writing department. Her new novel The Water Lies--her first work of psychological suspense--will be published on January 1, 2026 from Thomas & Mercer.