Event and Book

The National Writers Series is pleased to welcome #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Kevin Kwan to the City Opera House stage. NWS also has a high-quality virtual option for those who live outside the area.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with live music and a cash bar. The event begins at 7 p.m. and includes a Q&A and author signing. Each ticket comes with a hardcover copy of Lies and Weddings (or opt for a two-ticket package with ONE book). 

Kevin Kwan is of course the iconic author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, which has sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. alone and has been translated into over 30 languages. In 2018 it was released as a movie and was Hollywood’s highest grossing romantic comedy in over a decade, starred Michelle Yeoh, Constance Wu, and Gemma Chan, and made a star of Henry Golding.

Kwan’s newly anticipated book, Lies and Weddings, is a big, juicy, addictive novel full of all the things we expect from the undisputed king of escapist fiction—and it’s absolutely his best yet! Rufus Leung Gresham, future Earl of Greshambury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel has a problem: the legendary Gresham Trust has been depleted by decades of profligate spending, and behind all the magazine covers and Instagram stories manors and yachts lies nothing more than a gargantuan mountain of debt. The only solution, put forth by Rufus’s scheming mother, is for Rufus to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort, a veritable who’s-who of sultans, barons, and oligarchs, and seduce a woman with money.

Should he marry Solène de Courcy, a French hotel heiress with honey blond tresses and a royal bloodline? Should he pursue Martha Dung, the tattooed venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops? Or should he follow his heart, betray his family, squander his legacy, and finally confess his love to the literal girl next door, the humble daughter of a doctor, Eden Tong? When a volcanic eruption burns through the nuptials and a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family plans—and their reputation—go up in flames. Can the once-great dukedom rise from the ashes? Or will a secret tragedy, hidden for two decades, reveal a shocking twist?

In a globetrotting tale that takes us from the black sand beaches of Hawaii to the skies of Marrakech, from the glitzy bachelor pads of Los Angeles to the inner sanctums of England’s oldest family estates, Kwan unfurls a hilarious, sophisticated and thrillingly plotted story of love, money, murder, sex, and the lies we tell about them all.

EVENT DETAILS
NWS has virtual and in-person ticket options for all of its events. You can see Kevin Kwan in-person at the City Opera House, 106 E. Front Street, Traverse City, Michigan, or buy livestream tickets and watch from anywhere in the world.For in-person ticket holders, the City Opera House doors open at 6 p.m. with live music and a cash bar. The event begins at 7 p.m. and includes a Q&A. Kevin Kwan will personalize books after the event. For virtual ticket holders, the livestream opens at 6:50 p.m. and the event starts at 7 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION
This is a modified book bundled event, meaning each ticket comes with a signed hardcover copy of Lies and Weddings (or opt for a two-ticket package with ONE book). The book publishes on May 21, 2024 and reflects a 20 percent discount from its $29 retail price. All tickets are subject to ticket fees and shipping costs if you choose to have your booked shipped to you from Horizon Books.

IN-PERSON TICKETS FOR CITY OPERA HOUSE (ticket fees not included):
TIER ONE tickets are $27 plus book:
One Ticket plus ONE book: $52
Two Tickets plus ONE book: $79

TIER TWO tickets are $17 plus book:
One Ticket plus ONE book: $42
Two Tickets plus ONE book: $59

VIRTUAL TICKETS (ticket fees not included):
Virtual Ticket plus book: $40
(Virtual ticket plus $15)

STUDENT TICKETS: (Books are not included)
Student Tickets: $10

Kevin Kwan is the author of Crazy Rich Asians, the international bestselling novel that has been translated into 40 languages. Its sequel, China Rich Girlfriend, was released in 2015, and Rich People Problems, the final book in the trilogy, followed in 2017. For several weeks in 2018, the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy commanded the top three positions of the New York Times bestseller list—an almost unprecedented single-author trifecta, and the film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians became Hollywood’s highest-grossing romantic comedy in over a decade. Sex and Vanity, his most recent novel, hit the New York Times bestseller list in its first week of release and is being adapted into a feature film by Sony Pictures. Kevin has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.