Plumcake

<p>Faye Collins must decide to confront or forgive the teacher who sexually abused her when she was 17. When Faye sued Aquinas Prep Catholic High School and her accused abuser Doctor Edward Vogel the Catholic Church controlled the story with a puppeteer's smooth finesse. Twenty years later as a high school administrator and Catholic mother of three Faye is shaping a new generation of teens who confront abounding trauma. When she finds out that Doctor Vogel has cancer Faye wonders if an encounter at the dying man's bedside can redeem them both. The journey will make Faye question her fundamental understanding of consent accountability and the importance of mercy.</p><p><br></p><p>Sarah Gray is a literary critic and English professor. Plumcake is her debut novel. Sarah studied Theology and Literature at the University of Notre Dame and earned her Doctorate in Postcolonial Irish Literature at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She grew up in Orange County California where she now resides with her husband and children.</p><p><br></p><p>________________</p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>There are no one-dimensional characters in Gray's novel: </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Plumcake</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> sparks with the nuance of people persevering through impossible circumstances. The protagonist's biggest triumph is holding on to-and centering-a faith unsullied by humans. Faye's devotion her sacred motherhood and her life's work stand as testament to the resilience of those who endure the unwanted bond between abuser and survivor.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>-Elizabeth Savage Professor and Dean of Westover Honors College Lynchburg College</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Gray's </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Plumcake</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> is many things: A celebration of empathy a lyrical exploration of the pain that springs from abuse an encomium to the power of the human spirit and the best book I read this year.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>-Jim Hansen Professor of English and Film University of Toronto</span></p><p><br></p><p><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Plumcake</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> is a gripping tale about the inter-generational effects of sexual abuse and trauma. Told with sensitivities reminiscent of Nabokov Gray deftly exposes the pathology of a predator while taking the reader on his survivor's complicated journey of loss and redemption.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>-Joelle Casteix Author Speaker and Chair of the Board of Directors Zero Abuse Project</span></p><p><br></p>