Florencia Mallon will read from her first novel, Beyond the Ties of Blood. In the tradition of Isabel Allende, this novel from Chilean-American Florencia Mallon is a family saga that explores the lives touched by the tragedies of Chile’s vibrant history. “Engrossing and complex. Florencia Mallon immerses readers in a vivid world in which family, political turmoil, and romance intersect. A powerful story told with wisdom and compassion.” — Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Prep and American Wife

Florencia Mallon was raised in Santiago, Chile and the U.S. and educated at Harvard and Yale. She is the head of the History department at the University of Wisconsin and has written three non-fiction books about Latin American history. She has been awarded a Guggenheim and a Fulbright fellowship and resides in Madison, Wisconsin.