Diana stands before the mirror preening with her best friend Maureen. Suddenly a classmate enters holding a gun and seventeen-year-old Diana sees her life dance before her eyes. In a moment the future she was just imagining is sealed by a horrific decision she is forced to make.
The novel takes us through Diana’s uncertain steps into womanhood—her awkward heated forays into sex; her fresh fragile construction of an identity; and her equally tenuous steps as an adult protecting her beloved daughter and holding onto her successful husband.
Laura Kasischke has crafted a story of consciousness that encompasses the truth of a teenager’s world and the profound transformation of that world at midlife. Resonant and deeply stirring this novel finds piercing beauty in the midst of a nightmare that echoes like a dirge beneath each new spring.
