Deep Vellum’s Latest Book is a Larger-Than-Life Tale From Virginia Reeves

I first met the inimitable Virginia Reeves in 2012 at the Crystal Charity Ball Fashion Show and Luncheon. Stunned by the gazelle-like creature that just slinked into the room, I nudged my girlfriend, Lucy Wrubel, to ask who it was. “Her?” Wrubel replied. “That’s my mom.” Now every time Reeves walks into a room, I make a beeline to chat. She is a font of knowledge on fashion, dishy society news, and the latest must-read novel.

Reeves must have grown tired of continually seeking out the newest page-turner and instead decided to pen her own. Her debut, Once In The Blue Moon, is a collaboration with Texas artist Kyle Hobratshck. It was published by Deep Vellum Books and released today March 5, 2024.

 

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The two met when Hobratshck was sketching the Great Room of Reeve’s former home in Highland Park. The two struck up a lively conversation where Reeves shared she had been noodling on an idea for a book about her youth growing up in post-World War II Oklahoma. He was so inspired that he traveled (along with his pup, Pinto Bean) to her hometown and began sketching.

When he presented her with the sketches, the book journey began. Once In The Blue Moon is set in 1940s Oklahoma on a cotton farm where young Maggie and her sisters face a season of hardships and also witness their father lose himself in a whiskey bottle. But the sisters alongside their mother confront those challenges and through their willpower, courage, and grit overcome all in front of them.

If you’re looking for your next great read, head to Interabang Books on Wednesday, March 6, to catch Virginia Reeves and Kyle Hobratshck on their book tour.