How We Were Before

When a savage home invasion results in the death of a town’s most glamorous couple, the surviving friends and relatives of the victims must navigate the emotional aftermath: Exasperated high school Vice-Principal Zachary Rivers makes a final effort to reach a troubled student. Town librarian, Shelby Blythe-- the eldest daughter of the murder victims-- begins a correspondence with Billy Lawson, her parents’ murderer. Evelyn Kavanaugh, a retired marketing manager and beloved family friend of the Blythes, embarks on a luxurious cruise as a prelude to suicide. Noam Russell, Billy Lawson’s best friend, returns to Benfield to claim a share of his deceased father’s estate. Samantha Blythe’s maternal attempt to help an employee evokes a renewed desire to connect with her own family. The spaces between stories are haunted by echoes of the deceased couple’s life-- from the ignorant bliss of first impressions and great expectations to the tumultuous troubles of middle age, and, finally, an undying hope for reconciliation.

Jonathan Kravetz is an award-winning author whose work has appeared in journals such as Cardinal Sins, The Rappahannock Review, Narrative Northeast, The Opiate Magazine, All The Sins, The Furious Gazelle, and Wilderness House Literary Review. His plays have been produced in New York, Dallas, and in the UK, and he’s twice been a Eugene O’ Neill Playwrights Conference semi-finalist. His plays have been published in the Exposition Review, The Iris Literary Journal, and other journals. He is the founder and former editor-in-chief of the literary webzine, Ducts.org.