Meet Christina Baker Kline TONIGHT!
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—May 6, 2026
Tune in LIVE at 7pm ET tonight for this week’s episode!
Join us Wednesday, May 6th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Patti Callahan Henry & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome #1 NYT-bestselling author Christina Baker Kline to discuss her new historical novel, The Foursome, a boldly original reimagining of the astonishing true story of two sisters in nineteenth-century North Carolina — Kline’s own distant relatives — who married world-famous conjoined twins from Siam.
Christina is the author of ten novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Orphan Train, The Exiles, and A Piece of the World. Her novels have received the New England Society Book Award for Fiction and the Maine Literary Award among other prizes. Born in England and raised in the American South and Maine, she divides her time between New York City and coastal Maine. She joins us before embarking on book tour to discuss her highly anticipated new novel, The Foursome, which has earned starred reviews across the board from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, and which has been called “mesmerizing” and “gripping” by Real Simple, and “daring and deeply empathetic” by The Millions.
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 5/6 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 5/8.
Meanwhile, order Christina’s new book on Bookshop.org! Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show!
Latest News from the Fab Four!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY Summer State of Mind is officially out in the world! Also her tour has begun and seeing you feels so extra special already! Her tour is a mix of some of her very favorite places—like Charleston, SC and Beaufort, NC, where she’s been so far—and a few new ones she’s been dreaming of visiting, like Gig Harbor and Seattle! Kristy is so grateful to everyone who has purchased a copy and is supporting her along the way!
MARY KAY ANDREWS took a ROAD TRIP to New York City and Savannah last week . . . (see how she did that?) Twenty-four hours in the Big Apple was a blur–but she did manage to get the author’s note for the ROAD TRIP audiobook recorded, and to squeeze in a fun bookish lunch and dinner. She and her husband (aka Tommy Toolbelt) managed to get their Tybee Island vacation rental home, Ebbtide, styled up for a tour with the online design magazine Homeworthy that should go live later this month. Now she’s back home, buttoning up plans for the May 31 launch party (buy tix here) and the big Friends & Fiction Live Savannah launch (buy tix here) on June 3 and the upcoming ROAD TRIP book tour, and getting in a SUMMER STATE OF MIND to promote Kristy’s brand new book. #buyherbookdammit
KRISTIN HARMEL is on her way back from PARIS(!) today (with stops in Normandy and the Champagne region!) and can’t wait to tell you all about it in next week’s newsletter! She also celebrated her 47th birthday this week (in Paris, with her husband and son) and is grateful for another year on this planet. She wishes Kristy a very happy book birthday and hopes you’ve all bought a copy of SUMMER STATE OF MIND!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent most of the week traveling and is now happy to be back home to her house and her novel in progress (she missed them both even as she just LOVED seeing and talking to readers and she LOVED being with Kristy in Charleston as she launched SUMMER STATE OF MIND into the world.
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!
Upcoming Events
Kristy is on tour now for her forthcoming book, Summer State of Mind. Stay tuned to her events page HERE.
MKA will be touring in June for her forthcoming book, Road Trip. Stay tuned to her events page HERE.
Kristin will be touring in July/August for her forthcoming book, Meet Me in Paris. Stay tuned to her events page HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
Join us Wednesday, June 3rd for an in-person Friends & Fiction Live event in Savannah to celebrate the launch of MKA’s Road Trip! Get full details and tickets HERE!
Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!
In Case You Missed It
On our most recent new episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, the full F&F family gathered to celebrate the launch of our very own “queen of the beach read” (Cosmopolitan), NYT-bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey’s new book Summer State of Mind, which is, of course, our May Pick of the Month!
You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.
Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show
All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.
Already aired: Joshilyn Jackson, Missing Sister
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lucy Score, Mistakes Were Made
WATCH | LISTEN
SPRING 2026 SCHEDULE:
Already aired: Virginia Evans, The Correspondent & Allen Levi, Theo of Golden
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Evelyn Clarke, The Ending Writes Itself
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Tana French, The Keeper
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lynn Cullen, When We Were Brilliant & Priya Parmar, The Original
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Kristy Woodson Harvey, Summer State of Mind
WATCH | LISTEN
Christina Baker Kline, The Foursome
Watch: 5/6 | Listen: 5/8
Kathryn Stockett, The Calamity Club
Watch: 5/13 | Listen: 5/15
Mary Kay Andrews, Road Trip
Watch LIVE: 5/27 | Listen: 5/29
Annabel Monaghan, Dolly All the Time
Watch: 6/3 | Listen: 6/5
Ann Patchett, Whistler
Watch: 6/10 | Listen: 6/12
Lisa See, Daughters of the Sun and Moon
Watch: 6/17 | Listen: 6/19
Lisa Jewell, It Could Have Been Her
Watch: 6/24 | Listen: 6/26
F&F 2026 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange
The 2026 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.
This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MAY 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s forthcoming book SUMMER STATE OF MIND!
2. JUNE 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of ROAD TRIP by Mary Kay Andrews!
3. AUGUST 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of MEET ME IN PARIS by Kristin Harmel!
Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!
F&F Merch Store
We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.
We’ve added TWO NEW COLORS for our fan favorite name list tee-shirts. We now have them in a heathery hunter green and a kelly green—both of which match perfectly with the three new Fab Four books out in May, June & July! Get yours now and dress to match the books when you come out to Kristy, MKA & Kristin’s tour events!
F&F Official Book Club & 2025 Reading Challenge
Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed nearly 40,000 of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Sarah Fox about her new novel, Definitely Maybe Not a Detective. Mark your calendars for May 18th for their next author guest, Wade Rouse, when they’ll discuss his new novel, That’s What Friends Are For. The Book Club is also hosting the 2026 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The April prompt is to read a book recommended by a favorite librarian and for May it’s to read a book about a female detective.
Stay in Touch!
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Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.
