Join us for Celebration worship services, in-person and online, every Sunday at 10 a.m.

Ilana DeBare Author Talk

Thursday, July 13th at 7pm, join as our author talk series continues with Ilana DeBare. You may know her as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, or as one of the founders of Oakland’s Julia Morgan School for Girls. Now she’s also the author of Shaken Loose, a harrowing and challenging novel about one woman’s search for justice during her journey through Christian Hell. Admission is free; we hope you can join us for what is sure to be a fascinating talk.

As with all our author events, this talk is a partnership between Montclair Presbyterian Church and A Great Good Place for Books in Montclair.

About Shaken Loose

Annie Maple was a 29-year-old San Francisco underachiever, a college dropout living in the shadow of her genius older brother. Then she died and went to Hell—classic Christian Hell with fire and sulfur and devils, a place she never imagined might truly exist. Annie can’t remember how she died or was sent there. But the systems governing Hell are starting to run down, giving her a chance to escape.  

Joining other “shaken loose” souls from different eras in search of an exit, Annie treks across volcanic deserts, flees marauders, and confronts an existentially depressed Satan. Hell, she learns, is an unjust place filled not only with truly evil people but with billions of average souls who simply didn’t happen to be Christian. Seeking the courage to transcend her past failures, Annie must ultimately choose between returning to life and challenging this system of divine injustice. Source: ilanadebare.com

About Ilana DeBare

Ever since she read the 39 original Oz books in elementary school, Ilana wanted to be a writer. She’s worked as a newspaper reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee, was one of the co-founders of Oakland’s Julia Morgan School for Girls (an all-girl middle school), has written grant proposals, brochures, op-eds, fundraising appeals, a non-fiction history book, and four unpublished novels. Imagine how delighted she is finally to be publishing Shaken Loose! Source: ilanadebare.com