Alaska, 2018, and Mike is a long way from home, nursing a wrecked knee and an unspoken grief, striking out into real estate and parenting his partner’s son.

London, 1978, and Simon is an Australian fish out of water navigating adolescence during the Winter of Discontent, and drawn to an eccentric impresario next door.

Washington, DC, 1928, and a retired US senator is interviewed about his time in Russia in 1916, and his mission to save a young heir to an empire.

Vienna, 1809, and an Irish teenager on the run from the law takes refuge among composers as Napoleon besieges and shells the city.

Hong Kong, 2009, and estranged brothers Mile and Simon reunite in midlife to face the secrets of the past and reconnect in more ways than one.

Empires rise and fall, human lives play out, encounters, collisions and connections occur more than we can ever know – and yet, the unexpected can still happen.

Join one of Brisbane’s favourite authors Nick Earls as he shares his endlessly compelling and inventive new novel Empires.

Books will be available for purchase on the day, or bring your copy from home to be signed.

To reserve your place, visit Eventbrite or phone the library.