Author Talk: Brian Schaefer "Town & Country"

Sunday, February 8 | Roe Jan Library, Hillsdale, NY | 2-3pm

The Roe Jan Library welcomes local author Brian Schaefer for an afternoon conversation about his debut novel Town & Country (Simon & Schuster, 2025) on Sunday, February 8 from 2-3pm. Set in the fictional yet vividly drawn rural town of Griffin, Schaefer’s narrative captures a community at a crossroads, where the influx of weekenders and second-home owners collides with the long-standing rhythms of local life.

Town & Country weaves a kaleidoscopic portrait of a swing district under the spotlight of a bitter congressional race. The story’s heart lies in its richly observed characters, from lifelong residents and small-town business owners to ambitious newcomers, as loyalties, identities, and ambitions shift under the pressures of change and civic engagement.

Schaefer, a regular contributor to The New York Times whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and New York Magazine, brings both journalistic precision and narrative empathy to his fiction. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Arts Journalism and a finalist for the Livingston Award for International Reporting, he holds a master’s degree in creative writing and splits his time between New York City and the Hudson Valley.

This free author talk at the Roe Jan Library offers readers and community members a chance to hear about the inspirations and craft behind Town & Country, and to engage directly with Schaefer on themes of community, narrative, and the intersections of local life and national currents.