Hopewell Borough author Thomas Van Essen is set to read from his debut novel, The Center of the World, on June 18.
The dramatic reading is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Hopewell Public Library, The Railroad Station, Railroad Place, Hopewell.
Alternating between nineteenth-century England and present-day New York, The Center of the World is the story of renowned British painter J.M.W. Turner and his circle of patrons and lovers.
It is also the story of Henry Leidon, a middle-aged family man in a troubled marriage and a dead-end job, who finds his life transformed by his discovery of Turner’s The Center of the World, a mesmerizing and troubling painting of Helen of Troy that was thought to have been lost forever.
Just published in June, Publishers Weekly says, “…newcomer Van Essen demonstrates a flair for dialogue and an appreciation for how art moves the human heart.”
Thomas Van Essen earned his B.A from Sarah Lawrence College and his Ph.D. in English Literature from Rutgers University. He has been living in Hopewell for almost thirty years with his wife Bobbie, along with the family dog, Puck.
More information is online at thomasvanessen.com.
