Heads up, bookworms! Best-selling historical fiction author of I Must Betray You and Salt to the Sea Ruta Sepetys is coming to the Philippines this February 2024 for a book signing event at Fully Booked BGC.
Sepetys’ critically acclaimed young adult novels have been published in 60 countries and translated in 40 languages. She is considered a crossover novelist, with her books being read by both young readers and adults.
As an author of historical fiction novels, Ruta Sepetys is best known in the literary world as a seeker of lost stories, giving voice to underrepresented history and the people who experienced it.
“I look for stories that impacted many human beings, perhaps millions of people, but are still relatively unknown or misunderstood. And I look for pieces of history where young people were at the forefront or were catalysts for change,” Ruta shares in an Author Spotlight feature on Fully Booked.
Her debut novel Between Shades of Gray revolves around a Lithuanian girl sent to a Siberian labor camp in 1941, a story close to Ruta’s heart as the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee. It was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and became a New York Times bestseller.
Her succeeding books also follow the same thread of unearthing hidden histories: Carnegie Medal winner Salt to the Sea is about the sinking of the ill-fated MV Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea; The Fountains of Silence explores the lives of Spanish people under the fascist control of a dictator; I Must Betray You is about a boy’s struggle under Romania’s oppressive communist regime.
Writing Historical Fiction with Ruta Sepetys is Fully Booked’s first author event for the year. Known for its comprehensive and wide selection of books, Fully Booked has previously held numerous physical and online book events with authors such as Neil Gaiman, Kevin Kwan, Hanya Yanagihara, Ocean Vuong, and has more lined up for 2024.
Meet Ruta Sepetys on February 17, 2024, 3:00 PM at The Studio, Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street Branch. This event is free and open to the public. Attendees may bring copies of Ruta Sepetys’ books purchased from Fully Booked or purchase copies of the books during the event for the book signing.
For the full details about this event, head over to this Facebook event link.