Home » In Person, Lectures & Workshops, Literature

Author Talk: Parini Shroff with Tanya Žilinskas

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 - 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm | Cost: FREE
Mill Valley Public Library | 375 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, CA

Event Details

Parini Shroff, bestselling author of The Bandit Queens, presents her newest novel, Some People in this special conversation with Tanya Žilinskas at the Mill Valley Library.

A man on the brink of divorce is forced to care for his injured future-ex-mother-in-law in this wise, witty, and heartfelt novel.

Malti Patel is absolutely fine. Concussed and bruised, maybe, but fine. Certainly fine enough to not need her daughter’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Nathan Whitlock, playing nurse in her home while she recuperates. And yet, that’s exactly the quandary in which she finds herself. Her doctor insists on in-home supervision for seven days, and with her daughter, Kavya, abroad at grad school in India, Nathan proves too much of a do-gooder to let Malti rehabilitate alone. Seven days of Nathan, the man divorcing her daughter for all manner of reasons: cultural misunderstanding, emotional walls, simmering hostility…most of them having to do with Kavya’s baggage from her childhood.

Rich with emotional depth, Some People paints a nuanced portrait of love, forgiveness, and our timeless quest for understanding and acceptance.

Parini Shroff is the bestselling author of The Bandit Queens, which was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, a PEN Open Book finalist, and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a practicing attorney and currently lives in the Bay Area.

Tanya Žilinskas’s fiction has appeared in publications like The Sun, EPOCH, Chicago Quarterly Review, Southern Humanities Review, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, and Puerto del Sol. Her writing has received support from Bread Loaf, the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, Writing By Writers, the Center for Cultural Innovation, and the University of San Francisco. She’s the founder and host of the BAIT Reading Series.

Our bookseller for this event will be the Friends of the Mill Valley Library Bookstore.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.


Cost: FREE
Categories: In Person, Lectures & Workshops, Literature
Address: 375 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, CA

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

9:00 am   Japanese Tea Garden’s Free Admission Hour (Golden Gate Park)  FREE*
*Free from 9-10am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; otherwise non-resident admission is $12 - $16 depending on the season. San Francisco residents are always free with valid ID
11:00 am   Free Admission Day at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA)  FREE
2:00 pm   Free Art Workshop: Pop-up Mini Haunted House (YBCA)  FREE*
*RSVP required
4:30 pm   $1 Wing Wednesdays at Underdogs Cantina (SoMa)  FREE*
*No admission charge. Wings are $1 each.
5:00 pm   Free NeuroNight SF: Brain Games + Mini Keynotes (Chinatown)  FREE*
*Free and the potential to win raffle prizes
5:00 pm   SF’s “Henry Street” Fall Neighborhood Mini-Porch Party in Duboce Triangle (2026)  FREE*
*please bring a treat to share 
6:00 pm   “Wiener Wednesday” Free Hot Dog Night at Rye (SF)  FREE*
*Every Wednesday, Free Hot Dogs with every Hornitos Cocktail purchase
6:00 pm   $10 Off Tix: SF’s “Terror Vault” 1874 Halloween Haunt (Final Week 2026)  $10 Off*
*Use code FUNCHEAP for $10 off tickets, but only 50 discount tickets available per date
6:00 pm   Free “Blind” Book Art-Making Challenge (Madrone Art Bar)  FREE*
*Space limited
6:00 pm   Made In This Place: Bay Area Artists In Their Own Words Closing Party at KALW (SF)  FREE
7:00 pm   SF State’s Free Public Rooftop Stargazing Nights w/ Huge Telescope (October 2026)  FREE*
*Events are weather-dependent. Check the observatory's stories or follow its updates for confirmation each night.
7:00 pm   Black Hammer’s Free “Hopped Up” Trivia Night (Every Wednesday)  FREE
7:00 pm   Astronomy on Tap San Francisco  FREE*
*1 drink minimum, with $12 drink ticket purchased at the door
7:00 pm   Death By Aria: Haunted Halloween Concert w/ Aerial Spectacle (Grace Cathedral)  $75*
*$75-$125
7:30 pm   FREE Comedy Night (Every Wednesday) at The Function (SF)  FREE*
*Exclusive free tickets with Eventbrite RSVP. Otherwise $20-25 at door. Please note like most comedy clubs, there is a two drink minimum per person
8:00 pm   “Oh Rocky” Immersive Rocky Horror Club Night + Drag & Tarot Readings (El Rio)  $15*
*21+ event. RSVP via the event website. Show starts at 8:30 PM.
9:00 pm   The “Top Chefs” Potluck: DJ Halloween Party (Madrone Art Bar)  FREE*
*Free before 9:30 pm. $5 After
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