Join us for a Book Talk Q&A + Cocktail Hour with Cornell University Press author Debra Bruno. Hors d’oeuvres appetizers will be served. Cash bar. 

A Hudson Valley Reckoning tells the long-ignored story of slavery’s history in upstate New York through Debra Bruno’s absorbing chronicle that uncovers her Dutch ancestors’ slave-holding past and leads to a deep connection with the descendants of the enslaved people her family owned.

For more information and to purchase the book, please visit: https://www.debrabruno.com

About the speaker: Debra Bruno is a lifelong journalist, based in Washington, D.C. She has written for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications, and has worked at Roll Call, Legal Times, and elsewhere. She was a freelance writer in China for three years, where she wrote about subjects as diverse as hutongs, traditional medicine, and tourism.

Starting from the book’s release on Oct. 15, 2024, it ranked for weeks as a #1 new bestseller in its category on Amazon and has gone into a second printing. The Washington Post called it “an excavation of the carefully constructed cultural fiction that paints the North as an innocent bystander to America’s original sin” and “deeply moving.” Kirkus Reviews said it was “a strong, surprising addition to the history of slavery in America.”

Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Location: The Hill — 252 Schraalenburgh Rd, Closter, NJ 07624
Cost: $15 (Young Alumni classes of 2015-2024) | $25 General Fee
Walk-ins are CASH ONLY: $20 Young Alumni and $30 General Fee

Event Questions? Contact Alanna Davis