Local author Susan Moore Jordan will host a “musical book signing” on Sunday, November 9, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. at the Pocono Community Theater in East Stroudsburg. Music that plays an important part in Jordan’s latest book, ELI’S HEART, will be performed. Scott Besser, piano, Christopher Souza, violin, and Kara Snyder, soprano, will be heard in selections by Debussy, Schumann, Franck, and Rachmaninoff. There is no charge for the event.

ELI’S HEART is fiction but was inspired by the life of an actual musician. In the book, Eli Levin is born with a prodigious musical gift and a severe congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot. He and the girl he eventually marries, Krissy, live a happy and productive life despite the fact they never know when Eli’s heart might fail. The book takes them through a lifetime of music, courage, and love. The story takes place in the second half of the twentieth century.

Reader reviews on Amazon give the book high praise. “The characters of the stubborn, lovable, brilliant Eli and the wistful, loving Krissy are beautifully drawn and the music descriptions are expertly wrought by a writer/musician,” writes one reviewer. Another comments, “The reader is carried through a relationship that overcomes some very big obstacles. I loved this book and would recommend it to all.”

Both ELI’S HEART and Jordan’s first novel, HOW I GREW UP, will be available for purchase at a discounted price. The doors will open at 7 p.m. and the short program of music and readings by the author will begin at 7:30. The PCT café will be open during the evening.

Pianist Scott Besser and violinist Christopher Souza are teachers as well as performers. Both men have studios in Monroe County and have extensive professional performing experience. Besser is a graduate of James Madison University. Souza holds a degree from Lee University. Kara Snyder is a graduate of Peabody Conservatory of Music and has performed in New York and locally with The Shawnee Playhouse and Theatrical Gems, most recently as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.

Sponsors for the event are Jim the Hairdresser (JTH Salon) and DryJect Northeast. The Pocono Community Theater is providing the space for the event as a courtesy to the author.

More information is available on the author’s website, www.susanmoorejordan.com.

The photo of Chris Souza and Scott Besser appears courtesy of J. Arch Photography.