"HOPEWELL AUTHOR TO READ FROM HIS DEBUT NOVEL"

Oh what a night! Tonight, June 18th, the Hopewell Public Library will host Hopewell Borough's own Thomas Van Essen, who will read from his just published debut, The Center of the World, at the Hopewell Train Station at 7pm.  Recent reviews of Van Essen's historical fiction by Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, describe it as a "terrific debut novel about the mystical and erotic power of art", which "departs from the recent real-life discovery of maritime landscapist J.M.W. Turner's erotica to trace a fictional portrait of a scantily clad Helen of Troy awaiting Paris...". The author earned his B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and Ph.D. in English Literature from Rutgers University, and has lived in Hopewell for thirty years.  Visit his website thomasvanessen.com for an Interview with Thomas Van Essen, Reading Group Info, and Full Reviews. See you at the Station!