The Whirl: At Home with Frances Mayes

This WALTER Book Club event paired Mayes with longtime friend Susan Gravely to explore the idea of finding home.

photography by Matt Ramey

What makes a place feel like home? Renowned author Frances Mayes explored this question in the Nov. 9 WALTER Book Club event, hosted at Whitaker & Atlantic. The author discussed her recent essay collection, A Place in the World: Finding the Meaning of Home, sharing stories from her travels through Italy, Central America, Africa and the United States — and the common threads that anchored her to each place.

Frances Mayes

Mayes was joined for a Q&A with her longtime friend, VIETRI CEO Susan Gravely. The two kept up a lively discussion and fielded questions from an engaged audience about Mayes’ past work, writing routine and more. Afterwards, Mayes signed books for her avid fans.

Thank you to presenting sponsor Fink’s Jewelers, which offered a fun giveaway to guests, as well as supporting sponsors Main & Taylor Shoe Salon, VIETRI and Green Front Furniture for creating a jovial, beautiful literary evening.

Thank you to event partners The Country Bookshop, Alphagraphics and Attended Events for making guests feel at home with Italian-inspired food, wine and a dreamy ambiance.

Ayn-Monique Klahre, editor of WALTER
Frances Mayes, Susan Gravely
Frances Mayes
Kathy Brown
Frances Mayes
Ed Mayes, Frances Mayes, Kait Gorman

This article originally appeared in the December 2022 issue of WALTER magazine.