On Saturday, May 31st at 4:30 PM, author David Contosta will read and sign his book Happenstance!
About the Book
With the world inhibited by progressive thinkers dabbling in revolutionary ideas, amidst political upheavals at one hand and technological advancements on the other, it is mindsets that prove to be the stumbling blocks at every step, all the way.
New ideas that have the gravitas to usher change and progress are thwarted; women are still second-class citizens, at the mercy of patriarchal hegemony; individual choices, not conforming to set societal value systems, are frowned upon.
Amidst such a scenario, lone pioneers toil on, hoping that the fire that has just begun to ignite in small clusters will spread one day, eventually effectuating a social as well as intellectual revolution.
With this hope, Ellen and Jane fight their battles in their respective ways. Often, the journey is a lonely one, both psychologically and practically. But they never let go, as they belong to that special breed - the avant-garde.
Len Lear of the Chestnut Hill Local writes, “David Contosta has been teaching history at Chestnut Hill College for 51 years. He’s also likely the most prolific author in the area. On March 27, Contosta released his 26th book and first work of fiction, Happenstance. It's a wonderfully engaging opus that reminds one of the soap opera-ish Victorian multigenerational family novels by Dickens, Trollope and George Eliot.”
About the Author
David Contosta has for many years been a professor of history at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. He is the author of some two dozen books, including Rebel Giants: The Revolutionary Lives of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, America's Needless Wars, The Private Life of James Bond, and a personal memoir with his cousin Philip Hazelton entitled An American Childhood. He has also co-produced, written, and appeared in several documentary films. Contosta lives at the edge of a former crossroads village outside Philadelphia and is the father of three daughters and two sons.