A holiday season happy hour event that features the author of “The Glass Castle,” Jeannette Walls, will be held on November 18, with proceeds going to support Imagine Housing and The Sophia Way.

The happy hour will take place from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at The Winemakers Reserve in Woodinville, located at 15902 Redmond – Woodinville Road NE Suite D6. Ticket prices start at $50 and free, nonalcoholic beverages will be available for all attendees.

Imagine Housing is a permanent affordable housing nonprofit on the Eastside, which helps bridge the gap between affordable and accessible housing and supportive services. The Sophia Way, another nonprofit, supports women on their journey from homelessness to safe and stable housing by providing shelter, social services and permanent housing support.

The event will feature food from John Howie’s Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar. Wine from local winemaker and entrepreneur, Matt “Matteo” Loso and The Winemakers Reserve will also be offered to guests.

“The Glass Castle” is a 2005 memoir that recounts Walls’ dysfunctional and nomadic–yet vibrant–upbringing, while emphasizing her resilience. The memoir follows her family of five as they do “the skedaddle,” which consists of packing all belongings into the family car and moving towns in the middle of the night to stay ahead of debt collectors and law enforcement.

During her childhood, Walls lived mostly in isolated desert mining towns, where her mother and father taught her and her siblings reading, math and specialized survival skills.

Her father drank alcohol frequently and struggled to maintain a job for long, but promised his family that the nomadic lifestyle was only temporary. Her father promised to find gold and build the family the glass castle, a large self sustaining home made from glass.

The memoir has continuous themes of Walls’ father’s alcoholism, which drained funds and caused the family to go hungry. To survive, Walls and her siblings had to dumpster dive and steal food from classmates and neighbors. Years after Walls and her siblings escaped the nomadic lifestyle and headed to New York City, her parents followed, where they lived on the streets then became squatters.

For the happy hour event, Walls will provide a reading and engage in discussions with attendees about why experiences such as hers are relevant to the issues community members face today, while discussing the importance of nonprofits, Imagine Housing and The Sophia Way.

Books will not be available for purchase at the event. Click here to register.