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- SYNOPSES:
THE CANDLE OF GOD, an unpublished
novel by Donna Spector
Set in the Fifties, THE CANDLE OF GOD is about a family divided
by religious beliefs. The catalyst who ultimately brings the family
together is Danny, a bright, talented fourteen-year-old struggling with
cystic fibrosis. This serio-comic novel is in five sections.
Parts one, three and five focus on Danny and members of his Jewish
family in Altadena, California. Each member of the family—from
his grandmother Esther to his younger cousin Jessamyn—wishes to
help Danny. But the family members are divided, partly by their idiosyncratic
desires and beliefs and partly by the marriage of Danny's uncle David
to Kathleen, a Gentile. The lesson everyone but Danny’s mother
Dena learns is that of acceptance, of themselves and each other.
Parts two and four follow Earl, head of the Tucson Atheist Society
and the man Danny believes is his father, in his wild, erratic odyssey
from One-Eyed Pete's bar in Tucson to Danny's grand Pasadena faith healing
arranged by his mother Dena. Accompanying Earl on his journey to the
boy he also believes to be his son are Violette, his voluptuous mistress;
Clyde, a visionary faith healer who--although he doesn't know it-- is
Danny's real father; and Harriet, Clyde's gawky bride. Although the
faith healing is unsuccessful, most members of Danny’s extended
family—even Earl the atheist—experience a spiritual epiphany.
NOTE: THE CANDLE OF GOD was a finalist in the New
Millennium novel competition and the Dana Award novel competition.
READ
EXCERPT FROM "THE
CANDLE OF GOD"
THEATER IN MY HOUSE, an
unpublished young adult novel by Donna Spector
14-year-old Sarah’s life reflects the chaos of the late
1960’s when her parents turn their house in Berkeley, California,
into an improvisational theater commune called Dementia. Basically
a loner, Sarah resists these intruders, but as she becomes involved
with the eccentric actors and musicians, she begins to change and
grow in understanding of herself. Sarah is also deeply affected by
the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin
Luther King, as well as her father’s defection from the troupe
after his affair with one of her mother’s former students.
Constantly praying for peace, Sarah comes to accept the members of
Dementia as her real family.
READ
EXCERPT FROM "THEATER IN MY HOUSE"
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