Current Project:  Dragon’s Blood (working title)—a novel in stories

It’s 1970s Chicago, and the lithesome and highly skilled art conservator, Fay Serre, is about to marry Benny Moro, won over by his boyish charm, his chutzpah and his vulnerability. Coddled and feted by Benny’s uncle, Samuele and his wife, Sophie—both European émigrés, Fay enters a world that contrasts sharply with her working class origins. Sam dies months before she and Benny wed, but not before Fay has time to recognize that he, not Benny, is the measure of a man for her. The marriage she hoped would bring her happiness despite its flaws, is, in fact, haunted by Sam. And so, like a work of art affected by an inherent vice, Fay’s and Benny’s union deteriorates, and their sensitive child, Sam, named for his great uncle, only exacerbates the cracks. Fay finds herself vying with Benny for Sam’s allegiance. The crisis that ultimately leads her to leave Sam behind with Benny is also the event that frees her. But can she even hope to retrieve her child? 

Like Susan Minot’s Monkeys, Dragon’s Blood is a tale told in stories about husbands and wives, parents and children.