What happens when the loss of your sight ignites a war between your two best friends? Such is the case for 35-year-old, psychologist, Sahel Ohin, involving her two friends from childhood, Titus Denning and Carl Pierson. That she marries Titus enrages the flames of a battle brewing between him and Carl. A treacherous surgical procedure, at its most successful, could restore Sahel's sight and her independence. At its worst she could die during the operation or be rendered permanently comatose. Sahel's husband, Titus, a cardiac surgeon, and fearful of losing her urges Sahel to forgo the operation and allow him to love and care for her. Aware of the risks, Sahel's neurosurgeon, Carl Pierson, believes Sahel's blindness has rendered her hostage to Titus's need for control. Caught in the middle, Sahel worries that she has become a burden. Despite her fears, she cannot fully relinquish of the possibility of regaining her sight, and returning to her passion of practicing psychotherapy. Seated at a table in the Masonic Ballroom on her first venture out since the accident, Sahel grows ever more anxious of how she will maneuver eating during the annual medical society dinner. Titus is to receive an award, Surgeon of the Year. Seconds later a friend introduces Sahel to James Bolton, a former San Francisco stockbroker. Holding tight to all he loved, James has lost everything. On the winter afternoon James stood in court, and received life imprisonment for a murder he did not commit, his fiancée ended her life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. Though never having met, Sahel and James converse as if old friends reunited. Their souls mirror a familiarity that Sahel cannot explain. During dinner Sahel accidentally spills water on her gown. James escorts her out onto the verandah. On matters settling, Sahel longs to see James's face, senses him about to kiss her. Surprisingly he asks, "Do you believe... in life after death?" Sahel's hesitancy at answering draws a shocking interpretation from James. She responds to a reply of silence. James has gone. Seasons in Purdah shows what happens when best friends become adults, and how among many things, life is but a series of choices, the consequences of which yield a drama that both weaves and unravels the knots binding our lives to those whom we love, and who cherish us. Not so often by the purposes of our actions, but rather through the integrity of our intent, life bestows grace leading us to redemption.
Anjuelle Floyd is a wife of twenty-nine years, mother of three, licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in mother-daughter relations, and dream work. She is the author of Keeper of Secrets...Translations of an Incident, a collection of interconnected short stories, and a novel, The House, October 2010 that the 2011 Readers' Favorite Awards recognized in 2 genres: Honorable in Christian Fiction, and Finalist in Dramatic Fiction. http: //readersfavorite.com/2011-award-contest-winners.htm Seasons in Purdah is Anjuelle's, 2nd novel. A graduate of Duke University, Anjuelle received her MA in Counseling Psychology from The California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. She has attended the Dominican Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Berkeley, California. Anjuelle earned a MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College, Port Townsend, Washington. She has also received certificates of participation from The Hurston-Wright Writers' Week and The Voices of Our Nations Writing Workshops. A student of Process Painting for over a decade, Anjuelle has participated in the annual Art of Living Black Exhibitions 2004 through 2011 held at the Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California. Anjuelle hosts a blog talk radio show, Book Talk, Creativity and Family Matters www.blogtalkradio.com/anjuellefloyd Read Anjuelle's blogs and more about her @: www.anjuellefloyd.com Contact Anjuelle @ anjuelle@anjuellefloyd.com
