Book Event to Foster Dialog about Transgender Realities April 13, 2023

As part of a diversity initiative, the Cummings Foundation is hosting author Suzanne DeWitt Hall for a community book study in partnership with the Buttonwoods Museum and the Haverhill Public Library. The no-cost event will be held at 7:00PM at the Haverhill Public Library on Thursday, April 13, 2023. Free paperback, audio, and ebooks are being provided as part of the foundation's grant, and can be received at the time of registration, or at the event itself.

Transgender identity is the eye of our current social and political hurricane, and the need for ways to increase understanding and foster discussion has never been greater. Novels have the power to inform as they entertain, breaking down barriers to compassion and communication. DeWitt Hall's The Language of Bodies is a page-turner which does just that. The love story at the center of the tale moves readers and helps them realize the essential humanity of transgender people, and the very real danger prejudice presents. Sponsoring a community interaction with The Language of Bodies is one example of the Cummings Foundation's efforts to support positive social change, in this case, through literature.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER or go through the library's event page at www.haverhillpl.org. BOOK DESCRIPTION Maddie Wells’ life spirals out of control after the murder of her wife Char, a transgender woman of color. Hunger for vengeance drives Maddie to take a job at a wax museum near the murderer's hometown, where she studies revenge and plots how to strike back. Befriending the murderer’s wife is the first stage in Maddie’s plan to make him pay. The Language of Bodies probes the seduction of vengeance using vivid, sensual imagery to explore how love transcends the particulars of body parts, and how revenge blurs the line between victim and perpetrator, hero and villain. It’s a gorgeous, dark tale about the enduring power of love, and the human spirit’s unwillingness to give up. EDITORIAL REVIEWS In Suzanne DeWitt Hall's The Language of Bodies, a grisly murder sets in motion a grieving wife's plan for retribution. What follows is a struggle for dominance between vengeance and virtue. The novel is a film noir between covers—dark, tense, and sexy. And hats off to DeWitt Hall for shining a light on the potential dangers faced daily by transgender individuals.

Wally Lamb, author of six New York Times bestsellers and two Oprah Book Club selections, including I Know This Much is True

Dark and glowing as a ruby, DeWitt Hall’s debut is a page-turning exploration about what any of us might do for love, including succumbing to the dangerous allure of revenge.

Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You

Lyrically written, deeply human, and deeply humane, this beautiful novel seethes with characters who love, bleed, and grieve just like the rest of us: in surprising and unpredictable ways. This compelling book deserves attention.

C.B. Bernard, author of Chasing Alaska, and Small Animals Caught in Traps

Brimming with passion, dark, and immersive. Even as Maddie Wells edged closer to becoming the monster who murdered her beloved wife, I couldn’t stop rooting for Maddie and hoping she’d refocus her grief. The Language of Bodies dares to mine the recesses of the human mind and the paper-thin boundary between obsessive love and madness. What a wild ride!

Lorrie Thompson, award-winning author of A Measure of Happiness, What’s Left Behind, and Equilibrium

Suzanne Dewitt Hall is the author of Reaching for Hope: Strategies and Support for the Partners of Transgender People, the Where True Love Is LGBQI+ devotional series, and the Rumplepimple Adventures. She's been a contributor for the Huffington Post, Sinister Wisdom, and Cognoscenti. Author interview requests can be sent to sdewitthall@gmail.com. The Language of Bodies 978-1-954907-46-1• Paperback • October 2022 • $19.95 • Pages: 206 • Size: 6 x 9