08/10/2026
#1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline joins College of the Atlantic Coffee & Conversation on Tuesday, Aug. 11 to discuss her new novel, The Foursome, a reimagining of an astonishing true story: two sisters in nineteenth-century North Carolina—Kline’s own distant relatives—who married Chang and Eng Bunker, the world-famous conjoined twins from Siam.
Baker Kline will delve into the novel with her sister, COA Board of Trustees Chair Cynthia Baker, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Community Center. Register for the free talk at go.coa.edu/coffeeandconvo.
When the Bunker brothers arrive in Wilkes County in 1839, they’re not just a curiosity—they’re a sensation. Everyone is eager to learn whether the salacious rumors about them are true. Within months, the twins have opened a general store, bought land, and begun building a plantation. Now, word has it, they’re looking for wives—and in a place that thrives on gossip and legacy, their ambitions set the community on edge.
Spanning five decades and unfolding against the backdrop of a fractured nation hurtling toward war, The Foursome is both intimate and epic: a story of love and constraint, identity and reinvention. With piercing insight and emotional precision, Kline brings to life a forgotten chapter of American history and the complex, boundary-defying marriages at its center
The Coffee & Conversation series features discussions between invited guests and College of the Atlantic faculty members and trustees. The series hosts authors, entrepreneurs, scholars, artists, researchers, thought leaders, and more. Sessions are one hour long, and include a Q&A with the guests. Coffee and pastries are served.
