Coming October 2023: From Hardship to Hope
Two women end up living together during the pandemic. One is an olding White woman, a retired academic who understands the world through books. One is a pregnant, homeless, Black teen, who understands the world through having lived on the streets.
Initially, both fight the forced connection.
Trust, and then love, grows as they address pregnancy complications, the loss of their partners, a BLM protest, and the relentless isolation of the covid days. They share life-experiences, debate race-laced issues like police violence, access to jobs/housing/healthcare, and, of course, incarceration. As tensions ease, the women also explore differences in traditions, hair care, foods, language, and parenting, with growing shared humor.
The olding woman is thrown back to the loss of her only child – through adoption – when she too was 17. Trauma she had tucked away in her mind for many years.
The book is autobiographical for both authors, fictionally woven together through shared stories, with a surprise ending.
Please join us on WORT Radio’s Access Hour, September 18, 7-8pm, as we talk about the real-life experiences of bridging our many differences – age, race, prejudices – and discovering equally many similarities, as humans. The book release – through HenschelHAUS Publishing: Milwaukee — is being scheduled for October, 2023 at Goodman South Madison Library, 2222 South Park St., Madison, WI.
Book cover and drawings by Phil Salamone.
Read a sample of From Hardship to Hope (pdf)
