Three's a Crowd

Like the dance that she so closely scrutinizes in her book The Flamenco Academy, author Sarah Bird's prose reads like rhythmic waves of passion, anger, obsession and love. At the center of the novel is flamenco star Rae and her best friend, Didi. Both lost a father to cancer and a mother to madness, which bonds the two in high school. The girls' shared love for flamenco, under the tutelage of academy instructor Dona Carlota, solidifies that connection. But their friendship hits the skids with the arrival of flamenco guitarist Tomas Montenegro, Dona Carlota's nephew, who ignites an obsessive, competitive love triangle with the two girls (is there any other kind?). Bird signs and discusses The Flamenco Academy at 7 p.m
Thu., June 22, 7 p.m.