Allison's got a secret-And a choice
One steamy summer night in idyllic East MacMillan, Pennsylvania, clever Allison Stephenson learns to feel afraid. I cannot, I will not tell, she vows after a life-changing attack by Rusty Jenkins, from MacMillan's down-on-its-luck west side.
Concealing her assault, Allison leaves for the Ivy League, where coursework bores her and shame haunts her. But when she meets Lehanna Stanislaus, an ethereal herbalist, who, despite her own unresolved history, promises to help, Allison dares to hope she can heal.
Meanwhile, Quinn Gallagher, a guilt-ridden Vietnam vet, wishing he'd done more to help Rusty avoid the violent path he's chosen, gives his young friend a tough-love ultimatum: "come clean or go up."
But deciding to move forward doesn't guarantee resolution. Or healing. Not for Allison, Lehanna, Rusty or Quinn. And when their lives intersect in unexpected and complicated ways, each confronts the same question: Is it possible-even desirable to forgive the seemingly unforgivable? Not until they each reveal their secret pasts, then open to a multitude of mystical healing possibilities, will they ever know
2022 Global Book Awards Gold Medal Winner-Metaphysical and Visionary Fiction