Breton Heights

BRETON HEIGHTS, the third book in a trilogy that features the character of Julie Richards, is a novel set in the northwest Chicago suburbs in the years 1971-74. Julie, a thirty-five year old teacher of second graders at the Breton Heights Academy, has what most would call a fulfilling life-an apartment, new car and close friends. But she also has a past that haunts her-sexual abuse by her stepfather, a brief teen marriage, and a tragic love affair with a married man that produced unintended consequences. As a result, she's given up on men and relationships. When Ray Vaughn, a former Chicago Bulls player, is hired to teach 11th grade social studies and coach the Academy's basketball team, he takes an interest in Julie but is rebuffed. Later, after tutoring one of Ray's best players, Julie's attitude softens and she begins to see him in a different light. The nature of their relationship changes from hostility to tenderness to love. As the novel progresses, we encounter three other primary characters, some enchanting second graders, an abused boy, a quartet of NBA players, a few newborns and a host of other memorable and intriguing persons. Along the way there are side trips to Mexico and Italy that lend intrigue, plus a host of dramatic high school basketball games with the Academy Bulldogs in search of Triple-A championships. Readers of WHITEPAPER FALLS and MENDOTA SHORES (by this same author) will find answers here to all their unanswered questions, while those who haven't yet discovered those earlier novels can rest assured that this new work succeeds on its own merits. BRETON HEIGHTS isn't just read. It's experienced.