A book signing, reading, and reception will be held Saturday, May 18, at Diamond Hollow Books in Andes, N.Y., to celebrate the publication of Odysseus & Me, a memoir by longtime Andes resident Mary Overly Davis.

The free event will be from 5 to 7 p.m. at Diamond Hollow, 72 Main St., Andes. Davis will sign books and will give a brief talk and reading at 6 p.m.

A native Texan, Davis worked as an architect in New York City and was enjoying a seemingly idyllic life when her husband suffered a brain seizure in Central Park while walking with his wife and their 4-year-old daughter. With wit, grace, and tenderness, Davis uses poetic verse to tell the story of her life during and after his horrific six-year battle with an ultimately fatal tumor.

Davis says she was inspired to write about her experiences as a midnight epiphany while reading Homer’s classic epic poem, The Odyssey. “I saw parallels to my own life in the many misadventures of Odysseus and his crew,” she says. “Except for the happy ending, I was living an analogy of the whole story.”

She says she began to ask herself, “What would Odysseus do?”

Borrowing Homer’s poetic devices of vivid descriptive similes, extensive speeches, and repetition, Davis takes readers on her own long, strange trip, aligning locations, friends, and enemies—both mortal and immortal—with those of The Odyssey as she explores the transient nature of human relationships.

As Davis writes, “It’s a story of heartbreak, love, and coming to terms with one’s innate character. It is also a story about an ordinary life. And some of it is true.”

Published by Delaware County-based News Ink Books, Odysseus & Me can be ordered from any local bookstore, including signed copies from Diamondhollowbooks.com. It is also available at Amazon.com and most other online book vendors.