Second Acts

by Emory, Teri

• ISBN13: 9781944995317
• ISBN10: 1944995315
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-09-26
• Publisher: Amberjack Publishing

Summary

The interwoven tales of three women unfold in the voices of Sarah, Miriam, and Beth, whose unshakable friendship takes root in a Buffalo college dorm in the late 1960s. Fueled by the optimism and bravado of that era, they charge into adulthood with high expectations and lofty ideas. They were, as Beth would later observe, “the first generation of women to feel entitled to interesting lives.”

At times, they find themselves living long distances from each other as each of them seeks new directions and new locales—midtown Manhattan, a Florida suburb, coastal Savannah, the hills of Rome. Nonetheless, they remain deeply connected in the decades after college, sharing their joys and shepherding each other through heartache. With emotional courage and wry humor, they come to terms with a disconcerting postscript to the Age of Aquarius: Life—inevitably, unsparingly, repeatedly—demands compromise. 

In the year leading up to 9/11, the three women, now middle aged, are tested by unwelcome drama at home, unforeseen challenges at work, and unresolved conflicts about decisions made long ago. Sustained by their abiding friendship, Sarah, Miriam and Beth confront hard truths about themselves and the choices they have made. They must let go of past regrets and make peace with present circumstances as they begin the second acts of their lives.

Second Acts is a story of love, loss, and renewal, and a testament to the enduring power of female friendship.

Author Biography

Teri Emory is living proof that majoring in French as an undergraduate and studying psycholinguistics in graduate school do not necessarily lead to rack and ruin. To wit: She has taught writing and literature at the University of North Florida, Hunter College, Yeshiva University, and Fordham University and is a grateful survivor of a fifteen-year tour of duty as a corporate writer. Her essays, articles, and poems have appeared in consumer, online, and academic publications, and she has edited essays and book-length manuscripts on absurdly esoteric topics.

She grew up in and around New York City and has lived and worked in Berkeley, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Manhattan, and Rome (Italy). A devoted mother and besotted grandmother, she now resides in Las Vegas.