The FOPSL Book Club meets on the third Friday of the month at 2:00 p.m. (September-June) in the Cornelia White Community Room at the Welwood Murray Memorial Library in downtown Palm Springs and is open to everyone. Members of the club read the selected book for the month and join in lively discussions.

For more information or to join the FOPSL Book Club email list, please contact Friends Book Club Coordinators Mary Marks and Don Elder.

Most titles are available as Downloadable Audiobooks and/or eBooks from PSPL.

February 19, 2027

Deeper than the Ocean by Mirta Ojito

—A moving multigenerational novel about the enduring power of a mother’s love, the ripple effect of secrets, and the strength of family bonds from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

In 1919 Spain, Catalina Quintana is the eldest daughter in a family of silkworm farmers on the tiny island of La Palma in the remote Canary Islands. Fiercely independent, Catalina dreams of building a life with her childhood love. But when a devastating fire ruins her family's silkworm farm, she's forced into a loveless marriage and a journey across the sea to Cuba aboard a doomed ocean liner.

A century later, in 2019, journalist Mara Denis travels to La Palma to cover a modern-day disaster near the island. But the trip becomes personal when her mother asks her to find a long-lost birth certificate. Long haunted by the sea and plagued by dreams of a daughter she's never had, Mara begins to uncover a hidden family history that centers on Catalina, her great-grandmother who, she soon discovers, is listed among the dead in the infamous Valbanera shipwreck. As Mara follows Catalina's trail across Spain, Cuba, and Key West, she unearths a story of forbidden love and resilience that echoes through six generations.

Told in a dual narrative that moves seamlessly between past and present, Deeper than the Ocean is a meditation on the strength of women, the enduring power of a mother's love, and the corrosive hold of family secrets across oceans and time.

Assisted Listening Devices (ALDs) are instruments designed to amplify sounds to make it easier for persons who are hearing‑impaired to enjoy a library program.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Palm Springs, should contact the ADA Coordinator, as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.