Bethany Joy Lenz, best known for playing Haley James Scott on One Tree Hill, is coming to Charleston on November 17 to talk about her debut novel, The Betrayal of Cora Wexford, a romantic psychological suspense story set in Victorian-era London during the Jack the Ripper murders. The conversation is part of Charleston Porch Talks, and Lenz has said the book pulls from darker chapters of her own life.
According to postandcourier.com, the event description reads plainly: “Bethany Joy Lenz of One Tree Hill joins us on November 17!” and notes she will discuss her debut novel, The Betrayal of Cora Wexford. Charleston Porch Talks is a speaker series presented by The Post and Courier, built around one-on-one conversations with notable guests.
A Painter of the Dead in Ripper-Era London
Simon & Schuster lists October 20, 2026, as the publication date for The Betrayal of Cora Wexford, and its official description frames the novel as a romantic psychological suspense set in Victorian-era London amid the Jack the Ripper murders, per the publisher’s official book page. The story follows Cora Wexford, a 38-year-old American who fled secrets back home to start over in London, where she makes a living painting the dead. As the publisher puts it, “Cora Wexford is alone at thirty-eight, with secrets that drove her to flee life in America and come to London. Now, she makes a living by painting the dead.”
The same publisher description centers the plot on a commission that pulls Cora deeper into danger: a suffragist gallery owner hires her to create a series of portraits featuring women who are unseen and ignored. It is a premise that, per the official listing, sets up the suspense running through the rest of the book.
Drawing on Gaslight and Her Own Life
Lenz told the Hollywood Reporter that the 1940s film Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, served as her tonal jumping-off point for the novel, according to the Hollywood Reporter profile of her fiction debut. She also described the book’s themes as deeply personal, saying, “I took some of my own experiences, some from women I know, and some I observed.”
That same profile notes Lenz previously published a 2024 memoir titled Dinner for Vampires, marking her shift from memoir to fiction with The Betrayal of Cora Wexford as her first novel.
What to Know About the Charleston Event
Lenz is scheduled to discuss The Betrayal of Cora Wexford at Charleston Porch Talks on November 17, in Charleston, South Carolina, according to the event listing from the Post and Courier. The appearance places her directly in front of readers just weeks after the novel’s mid-October release, giving Charleston audiences an early chance to hear from the author behind one of this fall’s more personal suspense debuts.
