FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Page & Palette, 32 S. Section St., will present esteemed journalist Julia Reed, a contributing editor at Vogue and Newsweek,  reading and signing her latest book, The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story, on Thursday, Aug. 7, from 6-8 p.m. at the Fairhope bookstore.

Reed went to New Orleans in 1991 to cover the reelection of former (and currently incarcerated) Gov. Edwin Edwards. Seduced by the city’s sauntering pace, its rich flavors and exotic atmosphere, she was never entirely able to leave again.

After almost 15 years of living like a vagabond on her reporter’s schedule, she got married and bought a house in the historic Garden District. Four weeks after she moved in, Hurricane Katrina struck.

With her house as the center of her own personal storm, as well as the ever-evolving stage set for her new life as an upstanding citizen, Reed traces the fates of all who enter to wine, dine (at her table for 24), tear down walls, install fixtures, throw fits and generally leave their mark on the house on First Street.

Through it all, Reed discovers there really is no place like home.

Rich with sumptuous details and with the author’s trademark humor well in the fore, The House on First Street is the chronicle of a remarkable and often hilarious homecoming, as well as a thoroughly original tribute to our country’s most original city.

Reed is the author of the essay collection, Queen of the Turtle Derby. Her work is featured in numerous publications here and abroad, and she appears regularly as a guest on cable television.

A native of Greenville, Miss., she now lives in New Orleans with her husband.

For more information, call (251) 928-5295.