[IRL] You Can't Stay Here Forever: Katherine Lin Book Launch!

Join us on Thursday, July 13, at 7 pm to celebrate the release of Ruby Katherine Lin's debut novel, You Can't Stay Here Forever! Katherine Lin will be joined by Nina LaCour, author of Yerba Buena.

• Proof of vaccination is required. Masks are encouraged.
• Doors: 6:30pm
• Event Start: 7:00pm
• Location: The Ruby, SF Mission District (please see FAQ for details about our venue)
• This event is free to attend, but RSVP is required.

This event will include a conversation, short reading, and Q&A.

Books be available for purchase at the event via bookseller partner, Dog Eared Books

Please see our FAQ below for further details.

About You Can't Stay Here Forever

Named a must-read book of summer by: Good Morning America, People, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Desperate to obliterate her past, a young widow flees California for the French Riviera in this compelling debut, a tale of loss, rebirth, modern friendship, and romance that blends Sally Rooney’s wryness and psychological insight with Emma Straub's gorgeous scene-setting and rich relationships.

Just days after her young, handsome husband dies in a car accident, Ellie Huang discovers that he had a mistress—one of her own colleagues at a prestigious San Francisco law firm. Acting on impulse—or is it grief? rage? Probably all three—Ellie cashes in Ian’s life insurance policy for an extended stay at the luxurious Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France. Accompanying her is her free-spirited best friend, Mable Chou.

Ellie hopes that the five-star resort on the French Riviera, with its stunning clientele and floral-scented cocktails, will be a heady escape from the real world. And at first it is. She and Mable meet an intriguing couple, Fauna and Robbie, and as their poolside chats roll into wine-soaked dinners, the four become increasingly intimate. But the sunlit getaway soon turns into a reckoning for Ellie, as long-simmering tensions and uncomfortable truths swirl to the surface.

Taking the reader from San Francisco to the gilded luxury of the south of France, You Can’t Stay Here Forever is a sharply funny and exciting debut that explores the slippery nature of marriage, the push and pull between friends, and the interplay of race and privilege, seen through the eyes of a young Asian American woman.

Praise for You Can't Stay Here Forever:

"The Shady Husband Mystery is its own literary subgenre....Katherine Lin enters the canon with her debut novel....a subtle, character-driven story about interracial marriage...[and] opposites-attract friendship....Through memories, Lin skillfully reveals Ellie and Ian’s marriage of contrasts....Lin is deft and never overbearing in her handling of race..." – The New York Times Book Review

“Feel like taking a trip to Hotel du Cap in the south of France? Just open up Katherine Lin's new novel about female friendship, identity, ambition and love….[a] beautiful, atmospheric read.” — Good Morning America

'Don't miss this trip.' — People, 'Our Must-Reads for Summer'

'A transportive debut.' — Boston Globe

'An entertaining escape.' — San Francisco Chronicle

“Lin’s sharp writing and perspectives on the Asian American experience in modern times, the shifting tides of marriages and the complexity of friendships that signals a captivating new voice on the literary scene.” — East Bay Express

“Lin’s debut is a heartwarming novel about self-discovery after loss, as she explores grief, deep disappointment, female relationships, and the Asian American perspective of living in a dominantly wealthy and privileged white society.”

— Booklist

'A riveting debut with rich characterization, scenic setting, and sharp insights on relationships, class, and one Asian American woman’s experience.'

— Library Journal

'Lin's treatment of the glamorous, decadent setting, with its stream of gourmet meals and artisanal cocktails, is far from escapist . . . .she has complicated things to say about privilege and its intersection with race, ambition, and identity. A probing, astute portrayal of a fraught and late-blooming coming-of-age.' — Kirkus Reviews

FAQs

• This event will take place at The Ruby in San Francisco's Mission District. The Ruby is a collective of women and nonbinary people, and for the safety of its members their address is not public. Attendees will be sent the address in reminder email two days before the event and on event date. Please do not share this address with anyone who is not attending the event.
• Seating will be first come, first serve.

Accessibility

• The entrance to this event is at street-level with no stairs leading into or out of the venue.
• There is only street parking available outside of the venue. Public transportation is encouraged.

About Katherine Lin

Katherine Lin is an attorney and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and a graduate of Northwestern University and Stanford Law School. You Can’t Stay Here Forever is her debut novel.

About Nina LaCour

Nina LaCour is the bestselling and Michael L. Printz Award-winning author of picture books, young adult novels, and adult literary fiction. Her novel We Are Okay was named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 YA Novels of All Time. Her adult literary debut, Yerba Buena, was a Book of the Month Club selection, Target Book Club selection, and Indie Next Pick. Garnering starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, Booklist, and others, Nina’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages.