Daytime Book Club: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
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About this event
Come join the Daytime Book Club as we discuss this month's book! New members are always welcome (we love meeting new people!). Registration is appreciated but not required.
This month we will discuss Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt . The description for the book is below:
"Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else."
We look forward to seeing you all soon!
Interested in attending a future Daytime Book Club meeting? Take a look at our reading list below:
May 2026: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
June 2026: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
July 2026: A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
August 2026: My Friends by Fredrik Backman
September 2026: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
October 2026: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
November 2026: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
December 2026: Orbital by Samantha Harvey
January 2027: What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
February 2027: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
March 2027: Proud Shoes by Pauli Murray
Location
East Regional Library (211 Lick Creek Lane), 211 LICK CREEK LN, DURHAM, NC, 27703
Listed by Durham County Library. Details can change — check the official page before you go.