By Staff

March 25, 2026: JR Thornton has published his second novel, Lucien. His first novel, Beautiful Country, was published in 2016. JR is the oldest son of John and Margaret Thornton. John grew up in Bronxville.

Lucien (pub March 2026) set at JR’s alma mater Harvard, is a campus novel, a coming-of-age tale, and a crime story about a talented artist who falls under the sway of his charismatic, manipulative roommate. Soon Christopher Novotny, gullible and poor, becomes the reluctant accomplice of the impossibly charming Lucien Orsini-Conti in a scheme to paint and sell forged artworks. Graydon Carter, the former longtime editor of Vanity Fair, describes the novel as "a crisp, twisting tale in the hands of a writer in the bloom of his abundant talents." Lucien has been favorably compared to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. It has also been published in China, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.

JR’s first novel Beautiful Country explores friendship between an American and a Chinese tennis player. JR drew on his time playing the international junior tennis circuit as well as spending a year living and training with the Chinese national tennis team when he was 13. As JR explains, "the novel includes archetypes of people I met training in the China system. The coach in the book is different from the real coach. The tennis players in the book are composites of people I played with, but the description of the overall sports system is pretty accurate."  JR completed Beautiful Country while at Harvard, and it was accepted for publication when he was a senior.  It was published 18 months later in 2016.

After Harvard, JR returned to China as a Schwarzman Scholar. This program, inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship, supports up to 200 Scholars annually from around the world for a one-year master's in global affairs at Beijing's Tsinghua University.  John Randolph describes his class as very diverse—"50 percent American, 20 percent Chinese, and 30 percent the rest of the world." Students in his class included a Navy SEAL, a Chinese mayor, and a venture capitalist, among others. Ages also ranged from 20 to the mid-30s.

JR is now onto his next adventure. He lives in Milan and works in corporate strategy for AC Milan. "Working in European football is action-packed and challenging," says JR. He has traveled with the team on its pre-season tours for the past two years, and during the season, he focuses principally on business development. There is no doubt that JR's life as an ex-pat living in Milan will provide plenty of inspiration for a third novel when he's ready.  

Lucien and Beautiful Country are both available for purchase in bookstores around the country as well as on Amazon.