Ocean Vuong, critically acclaimed author of ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’ and ‘Night Sky with Exit Wounds’ is coming to St Swithin’s Church in Bath in partnership with Topping and Company Booksellers to celebrate his new novel, ‘The Emperor of Gladness’. Ocean will be joined by Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of ‘Open Water’ and ‘Small Worlds’.

College dropout Hai doesn’t know how to face the future until a chance meeting with elderly widow Grazina changes his life.

One summer evening in the town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on a bridge, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond.

When Hai takes a job at a diner to support himself and Grazina, his fellow workers become the family he didn’t expect to find. United by desperation and circumstance, and existing on the fringes of society, together they bear witness to each other’s survival.

This is an unforgettable story of unexpected friendship and how far people go to find a second chance.

You can buy tickets here

St Swithin's Church, 37 The Paragon, Bath, Somerset BA1 5L