Events Calendar

August 25th, 7:00 PM. Do you want to read something funny?  Let’s say, a novel set at a divorce ranch in Reno in the 1930s?  A book with memorably eccentric characters, sparkling dialogue, a satisfying plot twist, and some romance and sex?  A feel-good literary comedy/western?  Here it is, then, the book you’ve been looking for: Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Better Luck Next Time.”— author of Dear Committee Members and The Shakespeare Requirement

The eagerly anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of Be Frank with Me, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno.
$10 Presentation only  – Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$15 Presentation only  – Non Members (Pay Below with small Paypal fee)*
$31.74 Better Luck Next Time book signed by author Julia Claiborne Johnson – Available for pick up at Chevalier’s Bookstore or shipped for an additional $6
*After your purchase you will be emailed the special presentation link by 6pm the day before the presentation and by 12pm on the day of the presentation.

The Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society

presents

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME

with author Julia Claiborne Johnson

Please join us WEDNESDAY August 25th, 7:00 PM

It’s 1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the “divorce capital of the world,” Reno, Nevada. There’s one catch: they have to wait six weeks to become “residents.” Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need.

Twenty-four-year-old Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression; now he’s earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing good looks—“Cary Grant in cowboy boots”—Ward thinks he’s got the Flying Leap’s clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows: Nina, a St Louis heiress and amateur pilot back for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco and driving herself to Reno.

A novel about divorce, marriage, and everything that comes in between (money, class, ambition, and opportunity), Better Luck Next Time is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create can be stronger than the family we come from.

Saturday. November 4th 12pm to 4pm

The Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical society proudly presents our annual home tour on Saturday, November 4th from 12:00 to 4:00. This year for our home tour we have scheduled an outing which has not been attempted since 1976. Because of the stately homes in Hancock Park and Windsor Square there are a wealth of Consulate General homes. There are eleven in all but not all will be on this year’s home tour. As usual for the home tour there are a handful of stately historic houses, lunch and refreshments as well as a silent auction. Prosecco will also be served. Day of sale ticket purchases, lunch and the silent auction will be held at 355 S. Windsor Blvd. Names of the country consulates and addresses will be provided within the program at this address when attendees receive their wrist bands. Security is tight on this tour so photography and video of any interiors of the consulates is strictly forbidden.

If you have anything you would like to donate to our silent auction tax receipts are available. The Historical Society is a non-profit 501 c3. Proceeds go to the greening and improvement of various spaces in and around our area. Most recently the Historical Society donated funds for the bistro lighting above the city parking lot on Larchmont Blvd.

Day of event tickets, lunch, and silent auction will be at 355 S. Windsor Blvd.

Tickets for the Consulate Home Tour are $65 for members and $85 for non-members.