Litany

In the cultural upheaval of 1968 Chicago, a wise-cracking street girl named Zak meets an itinerant, brilliant and slightly mad old gardener, Rose, and sparks begin to fly.

Solid and character-driven, Litany is the tale of working-class desperadoes who, in spite of piles of evidence that they may as well, simply do not give up.

Rose and Zak meet through Sophie, a middle-aged librarian living by the rules– conservative even that one time, when she fell in love with a woman. With humor, crabbiness and suspicion, they struggle to make sense of their changing lives while the Democratic Convention’s political and social chaos swirls around them--a televised cultural revolution. The real and potential losses in their lives have made them edgy. Each runs from fear and clashes against the strong personalities of the others.

Rose long ago buried her yearning for place and has no damn intention of changing. Sophie is resistant to anything not prescribed. Zak, a 14-year-old wiseguy, clueless and nearly motherless, has run out of places to run. The hippies and yippies seem her best option. But she pictures a future, and uninspired Sophie might hold the key to her getting by.

When a threat from Zak’s thin past materializes, reality drops anchor. Protected hearts open. The older gals, with few resources except each other, are forced to the only vaguely beneficial choice they see.

Women readers, especially, are tempted by how these characters find their muddled, funny, painful way. In this time of “Occupy the World,” a revolution with even more at stake may be pending. This story of people helping each other, when they have no intention to, enlightens and delights.

The author is a former Chicago newspaper reporter.