2026
Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors
Some book events are about looking for your next book, while others are about meeting the people who make those books possible. Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors brings both together, creating a place where readers can meet writers, listen to their stories, and enjoy books with other people who love them. The festival has become the largest annual book festival in the Carolinas, welcoming more than 30,000 attendees each year and bringing together authors from different parts of the country.
The value of the festival comes from the simple connection between readers and authors. With talks, discussions, signings, and events for different ages, Bookmarks gives people a chance to experience books in a more personal way. The 2026 festival is also bringing well-known voices such as John Green for its opening keynote and Jodi Picoult for its closing keynote, giving readers even more reasons to come together around stories.
For Kravitz and Sons, being part of a celebration like this means more than simply putting books on display. It means giving our authors and their stories another chance to meet readers who may be looking for something new.
And speaking of stories worth discovering, Towards High Society by Clavaire Elanga brings a very different kind of journey to the festival. The book follows Rohman, an ambitious young man who dreams of entering high society while searching for the right woman, a better life, and a place closer to power and fame. His journey takes him from one relationship to another and eventually to the United States, where he learns that getting close to wealth, influence, and status can come with a heavy price. The story looks at ambition, relationships, power, and the things people may be willing to do when they want to move higher in society.
A Writer Looking Beyond the Surface
There is a certain kind of writer who does not want to stay with the easy questions. Instead, the story keeps asking what people really want, what they are willing to give up, and what happens when ambition takes control. Clavaire Elanga brings that kind of thinking into Towards High Society, using Rohman’s journey to explore both personal choices and the larger world around him.
Born in Cameroon, Elanga first worked as a psychology professor before moving to the United States. He later worked as a federal employee with the United States Postal Service and pursued advanced education in organizational leadership, completing his degree at Concordia University Chicago. He also works as a corporate consultant and serves as a minister, giving him experience across education, business, leadership, and ministry. These different parts of his background help explain why his writing can move between personal life, society, leadership, and bigger questions about people.
Elanga’s work has also reached readers beyond its current English edition. The story was previously published in French under the title Vers la haute société in 2020. The book’s current English edition, Towards High Society, was published by Kravitz and Sons LLC in 2026, giving the story another chance to reach readers in a wider market. It is also currently featured in the Kravitz and Sons bookshop, making this a new step in the book’s journey.
Rohman's Road to High Society
At the center of the book is Rohman, a young man who wants more from life and dreams of becoming part of high society. His desire for a better social position also affects his search for love. He meets several women, but each relationship brings its own problem. Diane is virtuous but cannot read or write, Nancy is educated but unfaithful, Laure has a good career but has a large family, and Ashley comes from an aristocratic background while carrying secrets of her own.
The setting also changes as Rohman’s journey grows. He eventually finds himself in the United States, where his dream of reaching power and fame becomes more complicated. What first looks like an opportunity turns into a lesson about the price of getting what you want. Instead of simply giving Rohman the life he imagined, the story pushes him to see what can happen when status becomes more important than everything else.
The book also goes into unusual and controversial subjects, including human sacrifice, cannibalism, adrenochrome, homonoeticus, near-death experiences, and the New World Order. These ideas make the story much more than a simple search for wealth or social status. At its heart, Rohman’s journey asks readers to think about ambition, power, relationships, identity, and the cost of chasing a place among the powerful. The story does not give an easy road to the top, and that is part of what makes his journey worth following.
A Story Worth Exploring
Towards High Society is for readers who enjoy stories that mix personal struggles with bigger questions about society and human behavior. Rohman’s journey is filled with difficult choices, strange turns, relationships, and lessons about what can happen when a person wants to rise above his place in life. If you want a book that takes you somewhere unexpected and gives you plenty to think about along the way, this is one worth discovering.
Towards High Society
A Journey Through Ambition, Power, and the Price of Rising Higher
Discover Rohman’s journey into high society.