

Katy Strulson
Upcoming Events
February 2023
JCC MetroWest Book Group presents, Alyson Richman and Shaunna J. Edwards, "The Thread Collectors" An ingenious young Black woman embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. A Jewish woman in NYC attends abolitionist meetings and stitches quilts for Union soldiers. As these two women risk everything for love and freedom during the brutal Civil War, their paths converge in New Orleans, where an unexpected encounter leads them to discover that even the…
March 2023
JCC MetroWest presents, Heather Cabot, "Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back" In-person at the J! By Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson with Heather Cabot – A must-read guide for small business owners navigating a critical turning point: when you either level up or give up. It’s never been easier to start a business – and it’s never been harder to scale it. Half of new businesses in America don’t make it past five years. Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson want to help today’s…
JCC MetroWest Book Group presents, Jai Chakrabartis, "A Play for the End of the World" New York City, 1972. Jaryk Smith, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Lucy Gardner, a Southerner newly arrived in the city, are in the first bloom of love when they receive word that Jaryk's oldest friend has died under mysterious circumstances in a rural Indian village. Traveling there to collect his friend's ashes, Jaryk soon finds himself enmeshed in the chaos of local politics and…
April 2023
JCC MetroWest Book Group presents, Shelly Sanders, "Daughters of the Occupation" In 1940, the Soviets invade Latvia and occupy Riga, Miriam's home, just as she gives birth to her son Monya. Then the Nazis arrive, killing Miriam's husband and rounding up Jews. Miriam asks her loyal housekeeper to hide her children and conceal their Jewish roots. In 1970s Chicago, 24-year-old Sarah meets her estranged grandmother Miriam who begs Sarah to find the son she abandoned in Latvia. A magnificent, emotionally…
JCC MetroWest presents, Eleanor Reissa, "The Letters Project" A second-generation Holocaust memoir, The Letters Project constitutes an important addition to the growing library of works exploring inherited trauma. In 1986, upon the death of her mother, Eleanor Reissa — an acclaimed actress, singer, director, writer, and contemporary Yiddish performer — was stunned to discover a stash of 56 letters written in German, hidden inside an old leather purse she had never seen before. The discovery of this correspondence, from her father to her mother, dating back to 1949, was a proverbial…
May 2023
JCC MetroWest presents, Jen Maxfield, "More After the Break: A Reporter Returns to Ten Unforgettable News Stories" In-person at the J! Based on her two-decade career as a local TV news reporter in New York City, Jen Maxfield takes readers on a dramatic ride-along with her in the live truck, from the moment she gets the call to head to breaking news, to arriving at chaotic scenes, to knocking on doors of families who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Maxfield revisits ten…
JCC MetroWest Book Group presents, Sally Koslow, "The Real Mrs. Tobias" A funny and big-hearted story about the deeply complicated relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, told through three generations of women who marry into the same family. “With a shrewd eye and a light touch, Sally Koslow weaves a story about three strong women whose memories, dreams, and desires conflict and intersect as they navigate a series of family crises. Warm, witty, and heartfelt, The Real Mrs. Tobias is a cinematic, fast-paced treat.”…
JCC MetroWest presents, Howard Blum, "The Spy Who Knew Too Much" In-person at the J! This true story begins on an Autumn morning in 1978. A sailboat runs aground on the Chesapeake Bay. The coast guard finds bullets scattered on the deck, top secret government documents in the galley, and a classified transmitter used to communicate with satellites. There’s no sign of the boat’s owner, John Paisley, a high-ranking CIA official. Ten days later an unrecognizable body wrapped in chains floats to the surface. The CIA has no fingerprint…
June 2023
JCC MetroWest Book Group presents, Kitty Zeldis, "The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights" Moving from the bustling streets of 1920s New York City to late nineteenth-century Russia and the lively quarters of New Orleans in the 1910s, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights is a story of the families we are born into and the families we choose, and of the unbreakable bonds between women. "A compelling tale of friendship, class, prejudice, and love.” (Kirkus, starred review) FREE 12:00 Book Group discussion 1:00 Presentation…
July 2023
JCC MetroWest Book Group presents, Adam Langer, "Cycloramas" The deeply moving, propulsive story of ten teenagers brought together by a high school production of The Diary of Anne Frank that will shape and influence the rest of their lives. A series of events that unfolds in Evanston, Illinois in 1982 haunts the cast for years to come. In 2016, the actors have moved on with their lives. Some are wildly successful, some never left their hometown, and some just want to be…