‘No One You Know’ Q+A with author and local librarian Emma Tourtelot
“No One You Know,” the debut novel from local author, middle school librarian and former sex advice columnist, Emma Tourtelot, brings the Hudson Valley into the core backdrop of several families struggling with realities not just unique to our area.
Tourtelot’s story follows each perspective of Kate and Indie, mother and daughter, as they grapple with the sudden loss of a young friend in today’s modern world, complete with cringe momfluencer moments, small town chatter, epic real estate deals and those familiar views of the Hudson Valley, including an honest, white-knuckling fear of the tall stone walls of the Taconic State Parkway.
Read our Q+A with the author below, see book launch events happening throughout the region below and in the calendar, and order “No One You Know” in the HVNY shop.
HVNY Q+A with Emma Tourtelot:
How long have you been living/working in the Hudson Valley?
Twenty years. We lived in Red Hook for the first three years and then Rhinecliff for the past seventeen. I’ve been the Rondout Valley Middle School librarian for the past decade.
Why did you choose to feature the Hudson Valley so prominently as the setting in your first novel?
Well, you’re supposed write what you know, and this the longest time I’ve ever spent in one place! I grew up in England and moved to New Jersey when I was sixteen, then I moved to the Berkshires after college and then New York City. So even though I still feel very English, it’s the place I know best.
Also, I was really interested in exploring the dynamic of these towns that have changed so much over the years, as more and more people move up here from the city — the whole locals vs. “cidiots” thing. I’ve been here two decades and I still don’t think I can call myself a local, even though my kids were born here. Maybe in another ten years?
How/has being a local middle school librarian influenced this work?
I feel connected to the Hudson Valley in a much deeper way now, and I get to see this area from a different perspective every day. I work with people who grew up here, and I teach kids whose parents went to the same school. I don’t think I could have written the character of Maddy (whose family goes back generations in the small town) without this experience.
Do you hate driving on the Taconic (as much as your character Kate does in the opening scene)?
Oh my god YES. It’s terrifying. It really does feel like playing Frogger. How are they allowed to have cross streets on a highway? It blows my mind every time I drive it.
What are your favorite things to do/places to go around the Hudson Valley?
I’m a bookstore nerd, so I love Oblong Books in Rhinebeck and Rough Draft in Kingston. I love the coffee at All That Java and the breakfast sandwich at Mighty Donuts. I love climbing the fire tower in Ferncliff Forest. I cross the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge for work every day, as the sun rises behind me — that’s pretty spectacular, too. And Morton Memorial Library in Rhinecliff is a pretty special place. Their annual talent show — which everyone in my family except me performs in — is one of my favorite nights of the year.
Emma Tourtelot is the coauthor of eight nonfiction books about sex and relationships and has penned regular columns for New York, Glamour, and The Guardian, among others. She was also the cocreator of Nerve Personals. After providing sex advice for almost two decades as one half of the writing duo Em & Lo, she is now a middle school librarian. This is her first novel. She lives in the Hudson Valley in New York with her husband and two teenage children. EmmaTourtelot.com + Instagram: @emmatourtelot
Special events for ‘No One You Know’
Night School Reading Series at Rough Draft
January 20, 2026 at 6pm
82 John St, Kingston
Reading at Blue Heron Books
January 22, 2026 at 6pm
1209 NYS Route 213, High Falls
Book Launch In conversation with Sari Botton of Oldster Magazine at Morton Library
January 27, 2026 at 6:30pm
82 Kelly Street, Rhinecliff
Book Signing at Gunks Gaming Guild & Cafe
January 31, 2026 at 2pm
17 Church Street, New Paltz
Book Signing at Barnes & Noble
February 7, 2026 at 1pm
1200 Ulster Ave, Kingston
Book Talk in Conversation with local librarian Lynn "Asha” Golliher at The Common Good
February 21, 2026 at 4pm
119 Canal Street, Ellenville
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