Take a close look at the cover of sponsor Peter Curtis's Café Budapest: a family, standing in the shadows in front of a warm café, not yet sheltered within, but close. Their stance is awkward, but they're holding on. It's an apt image for the "Kohut Trilogy," Curtis's fascinating mix of war story, love story, and real-life history: pitched on the edge between dark and light, refusing easy answers.

Based loosely on Curtis's own experiences during World War II, and on almost two decades of research, the trilogy tracks Willy and Sophie Kohut and their three-year-old son Pavel as they struggle for survival in an embattled Europe. Just released in April, Café Budapest pickes up where The Dragontale Buttonhole left off, with the family's arrival in Paris, penniless, wounded, and afraid. Peter Curtis is reading from Café Budapest on June 27 at University Book Store; check out info and an excerpt on our sponsor feature page, then put the event on your calendar.

Sponsors like Peter Curtis not only bring great events and new releases to your attention, they make the Seattle Review of Books possible. Did you know you could sponsor us, as well? If you have a book, event, or opportunity you’d like to get in front of our readers, find out more, or check available dates and reserve a spot.