NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Blue Cypress Books hosts a book signing with author Teresa Tumminello Brader on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 2 p.m.  Ms. Brader will sign her book, “Letting in Air and Light.”

This event is free and open to the public and will take place at the bookstore, located at 8123 Oak St. Copies of Ms. Brader’s book, Letting in Air and Light may be purchased through our website or in-person during the event. More about the event here.

Letting in Air and Light: From a double shotgun house in New Orleans comes a true story larger than life. Teresa Tumminello Brader, niece of the convicted art forger William Toye, retells her family’s experience as she discovers her uncle’s misdeeds after decades of secrecy. Personal reflections and newspaper records alternate with a fictionalized reimagining of Toye’s complicated life. On both sides of the story, what emerges is an attempt to honor Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter’s legacy without flinching from the painful realities that come from reckoning with family bonds. Empathetic and honest, Letting in Air and Light will inspire you to look more closely at your own history and wonder what else you might have missed.

Teresa Tumminello Brader is a native New Orleanian, spurred on to writing by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Her stories and essays have appeared at various online literary sites, as well as in print anthologies. Letting in Air and Light, a memoir about her art-forger uncle, published by Belle Point Press, is her first book.

Blue Cypress Books is a local, woman-owned, New Orleans bookstore and has been a warm and welcoming place to find high-quality used and new books since 2008. BCB is an inclusive and welcoming place where we speak our minds and invite open conversations. They are proud members of the American Booksellers Association and the Southern Independent Booksellers Association, and are consistently rated as a top bookstore in the city. More info here.