The draw of Moorestown extends beyond the town’s limits. Just having spent a brief amount of time there or knowing someone who lived there is enough to give the place a surreal charm. Kathy Rhoades-Hochheiser would find out that once you have Moorestown on your mind, it’s hard to get it out.
Kathy Rhoades-Hochheiser, better known by her pen name Kate Rogers, is the author of Joe Right, a romance novel. When she began developing the main character for the book, she realized something: the main character was from Moorestown.
“The book is completely fiction,” Rhoades-Hochheiser said. “But I knew that the character I was developing had to come from Moorestown. She was well educated, afraid to break the rules and had respect for her family. She was a perfect Moorestonian.”
Rhoades-Hochheiser lived in Moorestown for a few years with her husband, who grew up here, so she has a lot of experience with the town.
“I’ve been a member of the Moorestown Fields Club for about 25 years now,” she said. “It’s going on almost 30 years that I’ve been entrenched in this town.”
After the revelation that that main character had to be from Moorestown, Rhoades-Hochheiser decided to use the town as part of the setting in the book. While the novel does move from place to place, the scenes in Moorestown reflect on the experiences she has had with the town.
“There are certain experiences that have stuck with me through the years,” she said. “The Strawberry Festival and watching the old Moorestown families gathering during Thanksgiving. Those are the things I think that make Moorestown special.”
The Strawberry Festival in particular plays a major part in the book. Her description of the festival is spot on, as is her portrayal of the classic Victorian architecture of the homes lining the streets in Moorestown.
Rhoades-Hochheiser admits that she had no intention of having the novel take place in Moorestown before she began writing. It was only after the main character began to take shape that she realized the town had to be the backdrop for the character.
“Joe Right is a love story,” she said. “Moorestown just happened to be the quintessential place for the story to work.”
Moorestown is just that kind of place. The people and the town come as a package. The history and charm of Moorestown is what allows events like the Strawberry Festival and Moorestown Day to continue to take place.
“There is something different about Moorestown and the people of Moorestown. I knew when I was writing the story that it wasn’t happening in Haddonfield or Marlton. It was happening in Moorestown.”
Some places have this kind of appeal. There are just instances where things have to happen in a certain place or people have to come from that place. Moorestown is one of those places. A place unlike any other.
