Margie’s Revenge

A Novel of Obsession, Betrayal, and the High Price of Reputation

Henry Larson had it all-or so it seemed. A respected chamber musician and beloved professor, his world was built on harmony and routine. But as he crossed into his sixties, the music began to fade.

Enter Margie Hart: brilliant, beguiling, and bitter. She spins a tale of injustice, claiming her friend Alicia is being targeted by envious colleagues in the music department. Henry, flattered by Margie’s attention and stirred by the prospect of doing good-and maybe something more-takes the bait.

But Margie’s true target isn’t Henry’s sympathy. It’s revenge.

What begins as a noble attempt to right a wrong soon plunges Henry into a storm of academic politics, personal vendettas, and scandalous accusations. As colleagues turn against him and a cryptic email shatters his marriage, Henry’s carefully constructed life collapses. And when a confrontation with his rival conductor, Malcolm Faust, spirals out of control, the fallout is darker than Henry could have imagined.

In this gripping tale of manipulation and downfall, Margie’s Revenge asks: how far will someone go to settle a score-and how much can one man lose before he breaks?

Jay Trott is an author of essays and fiction who lives with his wife, Beth, in Sherman, Conn. Other novels include THE VISITOR and THE MAN WHO LOVED TOO MUCH.