Join us for a reading with Jody Hobbs Hesler, who will read from her debut novel, Without You Here. A conversation with author Louise Marburg will follow. This in-person event will be cosponsored by WriterHouse and will be free and open to the public. We recommend arriving early for the best seating.
About the Book: Noreen is eight years old when her kindred, namesake aunt, Nonie, dies from suicide. Now twenty-seven, the same age Nonie was when she died, Noreen is a young mother trapped in a marriage with a controlling, manipulative husband. On the eve of the new millennium, that marriage hemorrhages into crisis and Noreen must choose which aspect of her aunt's influence to follow-the long grief after Nonie's loss, complicated by their secretly shared mental health challenges, or her aunt's dynamic love. Without You Here is about generational trauma, mental illness, sloppy family dynamics, dangerous marriages, and the beautiful, redemptive nature of affection and love.
About the Author: Jody Hobbs Hesler has written ever since she could hold a pencil and now lives and writes in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is the author of the story collection What Makes You Think You're Supposed to Feel Better, and Without You Here is her debut novel. Her short fiction, articles, book reviews, and essays appear in journals such as Electric Literature, CRAFT, Gargoyle, Arts & Letters, and many others. She teaches at WriterHouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, and serves as assistant fiction editor for The Los Angeles Review.
About the Moderator: Louise Marburg is the author of three collections of stories: The Truth About Me, No Diving Allowed, and You Have Reached Your Destination. Her work has been published in such journals as The Missouri Review, Narrative, Story, Ploughshares, and many others. She has been supported by the Sewanee Writers Conference, the Kenyon Writing Workshops, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She lives in New York City with her husband, the artist Charles Marburg.
National Suicide Prevention Week is the week of September 8. Resources about suicide prevention are available at sparchope.org.
