'Rich with the troubles of love' -- Tommy Hays to read at Quail Ridge

Tommy Hays by Michael Mauney

Tommy Hays will read from his young adult novel, "What I Came to Tell You," just out in paperback, at 7 p.m., Tuesday at Quail Ridge Books, 3522 Wade Ave., in Raleigh.

South Carolina novelist Josephine Humphreys says of the novel: "This is a story rich with the troubles of love and grief, family and community, but there's a surprising aura of innocence over all, lifting the novel and its readers into another realm. A rare accomplishment."

Bestselling North Carolina novelist Ron Rash calls the book "...a great-hearted novel filled with wisdom and truth."

"What I Came to Tell You," set partially in a bamboo forest in Asheville, was recently chosen by the Atlanta Constitution as one of 12 books of 2013 recommended for younger readers.

Hays says he is at work on two more novels set in Asheville: another for young adults and one for adults. He is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and serves as executive director of the Smokies Writing Program at UNC Asheville.
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