Book Launch Planned for English Instructor Heather Frese’s New Novel

Heather Frese, adjunct professor of English, will launch her sophomore novel, The Saddest Girl on the Beach, on Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. at Quail Ridge Books. During the event, Frese will be in conversation with author Jill McCorkle.

Coastal North Carolina is Frese’s longtime love and source of inspiration, and the wild magic and history of the Outer Banks deeply influences her writing. Her debut novel, The Baddest Girl on the Planet, won the Lee Smith Novel Prize, was longlisted for The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and was named one of the Women’s National Book Association’s Great Group Reads. 

Event Information: Tickets include a signed copy of The Saddest Girl on the Beach, guaranteed entry to the event, and a seat in the reserved section. Frese and McCorkle will sign books after the program. Learn more and reserve a ticket on the Quail Ridge Books website.

About the Book
Grieving after her father’s death, a young woman seeks solace in an Outer Banks beach town of North Carolina where her best friend’s family runs a small inn. The family welcomes Charlotte with chowder dinners and a cozy room, but her friend Evie has a looming life change of her own, and soon Charlotte seeks other attractions to navigate her grief. Will she, like in some television movie, find her way back through a romance, or are there larger forces at play on Hatteras Island? Heather Frese, winner of the Lee Smith Novel Prize and author of The Baddest Girl on the Planet, sets Charlotte on a beautifully rendered course through human frailty, unrelenting science, and the awesome forces of the Carolina coast.

About the Author
A freelance writer, Frese worked with Outer Banks publications as well as publishing short fiction, essays, poetry, and interviews in various literary journals, including Michigan Quarterly Review, The Los Angeles Review, Front Porch, Barely South Review, Switchback, and elsewhere. She attended Ohio University for her M.A. followed by an MFA in fiction from West Virginia University. She currently writes, edits, and teaches in Raleigh.