Set in the suburban shadows of New York City as the 1980s crash into the ‘90s, The Punk and the Professor brings us into the troubled world of a young introvert. Jack Tortis is an underdog branded as a punk in a place where sameness is celebrated. Destined to be a drop out laborer like his estranged father, he clings to hope and fights against a tide of dysfunction. But just as life starts to move along, obstacles spring up around him. In his way are apathetic teachers and principals, an abusive...
Matthew Brown is a rising star in the “New South” political machine. He’s also, he knows, a complete fraud. Riding a wave of accomplishments by colleagues and subordinates through various government agencies, Matthew has ascended to associate director of the Department of Corrections, and his potential has caught the eye of the party power brokers, who are priming him for even grander political office. But suddenly tasked with organizing the state’s first execution in a decade, Matthew’s...
When seven-year-old Anthony Little Eagle is found dead on the concrete patio beneath the balcony of a foster home, police and child welfare officials determine that it was a tragic accident. Sylvia Jensen, the foster care supervisor, comes to suspect that the boy's death may have involved foul play and she is launched on a journey to find the truth no matter what the cost. She forms an unlikely alliance with J.B. Harrell, an investigative reporter, to search for the killer, defying her...
Over his fourteen years of age, Alex McGregor’s world has thrived inside the borders of his rural Pennsylvania town; to an outsider, his life is as picturesque as the rolling hills and peaceful farms surrounding his home. His father, Michael, and mother, Lauren, attempt to correct the mistakes of their pasts through the auspiciousness of their son. The family’s pristine appearance is shattered, however, when Michael falls ill to a strange lung infection. The internal tension of the family,...
A married couple in California grapples with race, betrayal, love, and loss when their son comes home from a Guatemalan orphanage. Contemporary art museum curator Julie Cowan achieves her dream of motherhood through adoption, but her life is far from perfect. Her pathologist husband, Mark, is distracted by his gorgeous, young intern, while her hotshot new museum director boss doubts Julie’s curatorial chops. And Julie’s six-year-old son, Jack (born Juan), may never recover from trauma...
Unsatisfied with the expectations of Creole society and unhappy with her family life, Edna Pontellier begins to fall in love with the dapper Robert Lebrun. Lebrun's flirtations, along with the lifestyle of renown musician Mademoiselle Reisz, rejuvenates Edna's sense of freedom and independence. However, an affair with the womanizer Alcee Arobin provides Edna with a taste of the danger that comes with living outside of social convention. Trapped between the life she is expected to live...
In “The Locket”, a confederate soldier declines his fellow soldiers’ request to reveal the contents of the locket around his neck. The locket, which holds pictures of his fiancée’s parents and the date of their wedding is found on the battlefield after a battle. Later, the soldier’s fiancée visits the battlefield with the soldier’s father, both shaken with grief. The soldier’s father asks his son’s fiancée to remove her veil, as it contrasts too sharply with the beautiful day and adds that on...
In «Beyond the Bayou», La Folle, an ex-slave, lives on an island cut off from the her old home and is afraid to venture back onto the bayou. When a small drought dries up the shallow waters between her home and the bayou, she spends some time with the son of her former master. When the son, whom she calls “Cheri” accidentally shoots himself in the leg, La Folle must overcome her fear of the unknown and go back to the bayou to alert his parents. A story about a woman finding hidden strength in...
In «A Respectable Woman», Mrs. Baroda, the wife of a wealthy sugar plantation owner plays hostess to Mr. Gouvernail, a friend of her husband’s. The reserved Mr. Gouvernail is a puzzle to Mrs. Baroda who is nonetheless intrigued by the man’s retiring nature. When the two speak to each other outside one evening, Mrs. Baroda wants to get closer to her guest but realizes this would be at odds with her position as a “respectable woman”. First published in Vogue in 1894, «A Respectable Woman» is the...
In “Désirée’s Baby”, the adopted daughter of a wealthy prewar French Creole couple is courted by the son of another wealthy, respected French Creole family. After they marry, their child is born with dark skin and believed to have African ancestry, a problem for a prewar white family. Accused of dishonesty by her husband, the mother, Désirée, and her child walk off into the bayou, never to be seen again. But when the father finds a letter from his mother to his father which reveals an explosive...