FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Patti Callahan Henry, the national bestselling author of six novels, will be speaking about her latest work “Driftwood Summer” on June 11, 6-8 p.m., at Page & Palette, 32 S. Section St. in Fairhope.

Henry is hailed as a fresh new voice in Southern fiction. She has been considered for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, and also has been nominated for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Fiction Novel of the Year.

Her work is often compared to Pat Conroy and Anne Rivers Siddons.

She is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs and women’s groups where she discusses the importance of storytelling.

Employees of Page & Palette are mentioned by the author in the acknowledgments of “Driftwood Summer,” as the book’s setting is in a family owned bookstore.

Henry grew up as a minister’s daughter, learning early how storytelling effects our lives. She grew up spending her summers on Cape Cod where she began her love affair with the beach, ocean, tides and nature of the coast.

Moving south at the tender age of 12, she found solace in books and stories. While attending Auburn University, she met a Southern boy who later proposed on Daufuskie Island, S.C., next to a historic lighthouse overlooking the sound.

After earning her master’s degree in child health, Henry worked as a clinical nurse specialist until her first child was born.

Now she is a full time writer, wife and mother living with her husband and three children outside Atlanta on the Chattahoochee River.

The author will exclusively sign all books purchased from Page & Palette.

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