Dennis McFarland returns to his literary and geographical roots this summer with his latest novel, Letter from Point Clear. McFarland will sign this poignant saga of a new Southern homecoming, Thursday, Aug. 30, 6-8 p.m., at Page & Palette Bookstore, 32 S. Section St. in Fairhope.

As he heads wholeheartedly to his native Alabama for the first time in his esteemed career, McFarland proves himself a master storyteller with Letter from Point Clear. The novel follows the dysfunctional Owen family’s reunion in Point Clear, 10 months after the death of their father.

As soon as they could, all of the Owen children fled from their Southern roots in favor of points north. In fact, none of them ever showed any intention of returning to the South until the black-sheep child, Bonnie decides to stay on in the ancestral home after their father dies.

Soon after his death — unbeknownst to her siblings — she falls in love with and marries a handsome evangelical preacher, and together the couple takes up residence in the stately Owen mansion.

When they receive Bonnie’s letter announcing her marriage, Ellen and Morris head for Alabama believing they must extricate their troublesome sister from her latest mistake. To their surprise, they find that Bonnie’s charismatic young husband, Pastor, has already saved her from her self-destructive ways and Bonnie is now nearly three months pregnant.

But Bonnie has only recently informed Pastor that Morris is gay, and Pastor quickly undertakes a campaign to “save” him as well.

With grace, warmth, and humor, McFarland reveals the common ground shared by these flawed yet captivating characters — setting them all, and the reader with them, on an unlikely course toward redemption.

Publisher’s Weekly praises “Though McFarland imparts a religious message that feels heavy-handed in spots, his ability to tap the hearts and mind of his carefully considered characters adds up to an evocative novel.”

McFarland is the bestselling author of Prince Edward, Singing Boy, School for the Blind, A Face at the Window and The Music Room. His fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories and The New Yorker.

He lives with his family in Massachusetts.

For more information, call (251) 928-5295 or visit www.pageandpalette.com.