Ashley

by David Donavel

Fresh out of Wolpert University, Ashley Brisbois finds herself at sea. She takes an unsatisfactory job, shares a Boston apartment with an old friend from high school, and finds a beau, Bruce, a university instructor, who is equally at sea. For all that, she misses the direction and purpose she felt while a student. Introspective, thoughtful, given to musings, she lives, according to her roommate, Shannon, so much in her imagination that she sometimes appears to forget that she is also a physical creature with physical appetites. Unsure of what she wants from life, unsure of her feelings for Bruce, she is surprised during a Christmas visit to her home town by the appearance of an old boyfriend, James Elliot, with whom she shared a strong, brief, sexual interlude. She finds she’s still drawn to him, but only sexually. She yields to temptation and the pair spends a night in a rented room. When Bruce discovers her infidelity, Ashley must confront her guilt and shame and figure out what sort of person she will become.

295 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2022