Under the Same Sun

What happens in Unity, Connecticut could happen anywhere in America. Under the Same Sun begins at a kitchen table on a school day morning in Unity. The novel paints a picture of a struggling rural town during the year leading up to the 2016 presidential election. A portrait of people familiar to all of us, it tells the story of their desires, disappointments, divisions and, ultimately, the beauty and the frustrations of day-to-day life in America's forgotten places. Leo Heaton is a widowed father who lives with his twin daughters, Emily and Amanda, and his mother-in-law Dori O'Neil. Their lives are interwoven with the townspeople, including an edgy, mysterious high school teacher who is a role model for the Heaton twins. Helen Tremblay has also attracted the attention of their father and they become involved in a secret romance. The cast of characters includes teenage friends, a wealthy prep school boyfriend, an interracial family who own a maple syrup farm, and a Mohegan Indian who hosts parties in his man cave and shares his native wisdom. The citizens of Unity cross paths in chapters set in the simplest of places: the local Dunkin' Donuts, high school parking lots, auto repair shops and lumberyards, and hiking trails in the Berkshire woods. When an avoidable tragedy occurs, the small town of Unity becomes Every Town America. A place where nothing newsworthy happens and people feel relatively safe.

Sheila Blanchette is also the author of Life Is All This, Take Me Home, and the best seller The Reverse Commute. She lives in Vermont with her husband. On her website she frequently shares her stories of rural life, road trips, and America as she sees it. www.sheilablanchette.wordpress.com