Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | 6:00 PM | Le Sud, 2301 W. Roscoe St. Chicago, IL 60618
How well can we ever know the people we love?
Join us for an unforgettable evening with author Rowan Beaird as we celebrate Tenderness, a mesmerizing novel of family secrets, cults, complicated loyalties, and the hidden lives we carry beneath the surface.
Set during a wedding weekend on a remote island off the coast of Virginia, Tenderness begins as family and friends gather to celebrate the marriage of Shay O'Connor and Andrew Pruitt. But the whispers begin long before the ceremony. Shay has recently escaped Synanon, the notorious real-life cult that captivated headlines in the 1970s. Why did a woman with every apparent advantage—a loving family, an Ivy League education, and a promising future—become entangled in such a world? And has she truly left it behind?
As the wedding day draws closer, old friendships are tested, buried histories resurface, and unsettling questions begin to emerge. Told through the interwoven perspectives of Shay, her brother William, and her longtime friend Joel, Tenderness unfolds as both a gripping mystery and a deeply human story about love, identity, forgiveness, and the secrets that shape us.
Your evening includes:
A signed hardcover copy of Tenderness from our partner bookstore, Three Avenues Bookshop
A welcome cocktail and a curated menu from Le Sud
A lively conversation with Rowan Beaird exploring cults and belonging, family dynamics, friendship, reinvention, romantic longing, and the challenge of truly seeing ourselves and one another
Thoughtfully designed conversation prompts to spark reflection and connection—no prior reading required
Atmospheric, suspenseful, and impossible to put down, Tenderness transports readers to the volatile cultural landscape of the 1970s while asking timeless questions about who we become, what we leave behind, and whether love can survive the truths we uncover.
Join us for an evening of cocktails, cuisine, conversation, and one of the summer's most captivating novels.
Seating is extremely limited. Reserve your place today.
About Rowan Beaird:
Rowan Beaird is a fiction writer whose work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, and The Common, among others. She is the recipient of the Ploughshares Emerging Writer Award, and she has received scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and StoryStudio. Her first novel, The Divorcées, was named a best book by Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, People, The Independent, and the Chicago Review of Books. Her second novel, Tenderness, will be published in July 2026.