Linda Holmes

Harvard Book Store welcomes Linda Holmes—pop culture correspondent for NPR and host of the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour—for a discussion of her debut novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over. She will be joined in conversation by librarian and cultural advisory savant MARGARET H. WILLISON.

About Evvie Drake Starts Over

In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future.

When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept—but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance—up until the last out.

Praise for Evvie Drake Starts Over

“Deeply moving while simultaneously hilarious, Evvie Drake Starts Over is what happens when great writing, complex and charming characters, and a not-quite-what-you-expect ending collide. . . . Much more than just another romantic comedy.” —Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of Dreams of Falling

“I was utterly charmed—this book shows us that just because you’re broken doesn’t mean you can’t be put back together again. You’ll want to stay cozied up with these delightful, unique, and incredibly human characters long after you turn the last page.” —Doree Shafrir, author of Startup: A Novel and co-host of the Forever35 podcast

“A sweet and sincere grown-up love story . . . Fans of grounded romance will fall hard for Evvie Drake and Dean Tenney, two broken people who help each other mend. . . . Refreshing and real, with a huge heart. I loved it.” —Georgia Clark, author of The Regulars and The Bucket List