Book Chat – September
The Center for the Arts Evergreen Book Chat meets on the third Wednesday of every month from 3-5 pm in person or on Zoom. CAE’s Book Chat is free to all CAE members. We choose fictional AND nonfictional books based in the world of arts and culture and have lively discussions about the world of art.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 – 3 pm
Seeds of the Pomegranate by Suzanne Uttaro Samuels
In early 20th-century Sicily, noblewoman Mimi Inglese, a talented painter, dreams of escaping the rigid expectations of her class by gaining admission to the Palermo Art Academy. But when she contracts tuberculosis, her ambitions are shattered. With the Sicilian nobility in decline, she and her family leave for New York City in search of a fresh start.
Instead of opportunity, Mimi is pulled into the dark underbelly of city life and her father’s money laundering scheme. When he is sent to prison, desperation forces her to put her artistic talent to a new use—counterfeiting $5 bills to keep her family from starvation and, perhaps, to one day reclaim her dream of painting. But as Gangland violence escalates and tragedy strikes, Mimi must summon the courage to flee before she is trapped forever in a life she never wanted.
