In this zippy and hilarious escape-read set on a Greek archeological site where the first Olympics took place, four incompatible women band together to make the discovery of a lifetime. Funny, edgy, escapist reading! Perfect for book clubs.

Buckle up, it’ll be a summer for the ages.

On the Megalopolis archeological dig site in rural Greece, it’s never just a foot. That’s not how it works, any of the women working at the Mega excavation will tell you that. So when a member of the dig stumbles across an ancient artifact that shouldn’t exist, something that goes against everything we have been told about male achievement, everything their megalomaniacal leader has built his career, and ego, upon it’s clear that something has gone horribly wrong.

The four women digging this summer are each at wildly different crossroads in their lives — from Kara, a polished art historian on the verge of calling off her wedding, to Patty, a hapless undergrad with an unfortunate bowl cut, to Z, a millennial who just got dumped and fired for what feels like the thousandth time, to Elise, the star excavator with no time for a personal life but they’ve all somehow ended up on the same mountain, the mythic home to the first Olympics. And to figure out what they’re really digging for, and what this site really means, they’ll have to become what these dirt-crusted colleagues have avoided for years, friends. If they can manage to band together for this one summer, they might just make the discovery of a lifetime.

The climactic discovery in this story is based on a tantalizing question rooted in actual history: What if sports, that ultimate expression of male dominance throughout history, were really invented by women? (The Heraean Games—the first athletic competition for women, occurred in the 6th century BC and were probably held in the Olympic year itself, prior to the men’s games.) Excavations builds upon that premise to fantastic effect.

Kate Myers is the bestselling author of Excavations. She studied archaeology at Penn and has lived in New York, LA, and DC and worked for CBS in TV development, CollegeHumor and BuzzFeed. She’s currently at work on her second novel and lives in Annapolis, Maryland with her husband, daughters and dog. Excavations has been optioned for television by NBCUniversal.

This is an in-person event. Seated capacity at People’s Book is 50 patrons. Standing room is an option. All events are first-come, first-served seating. Accessible seating is always available.