A Novel
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Historical Fiction
About:
Our story centers on two POV characters, split into three time periods. James, an American foreign corespondent and Evelyne, a wealthy heiress and pianist. The story is broken up into three distinct time periods: 1. On the Eve of War, 2. A World Divided, 3. The Fight for Freedom.
James and Evelyne find each other in Paris at the outset of war, both dreamers with great creative ambition. They inspire something in each other, but before the romance can truly blossom, the world intervenes.
James is a working class kid from the Bronx who thinks merit will serve him well in his quest to become a celebrated journalist and writer. When he arrives in Paris in the Fall of 1939, he quickly realizes advancement will not come easy. Surrounded by blue-blooded American aristocracy at all levels of the press wires, James must contend with work place politics and nepotistic promotions. At some point he will have to decide if reporting the war from the safety of a desk is what he really wants. With Paris and Evelyne very much on his mind, he must take greater risk both personally and professionally to find his source of liberation.
Evelyne is from a wealthy banking family. She is engaged to a protege of her late father, and lives in immense comfort and security. However, she is miserable, and prone to her late father’s fits of depression. At some point, she must ask herself whether this life of torment and abuse is preferential to risking literally everything to secure her source of liberation despite her dreams of being a concert pianist all but secured if she stays put. Will she put her fears aside and join old friends in the resistance? Or will she give in to fear and stay a captured bird?
Liberation is as much about the external struggles of this time period as it is about the personal sacrifices and internal struggles of those under fascist rule. It is a deep examination of how a society functions under fascist rule, and the anachronistic attitudes and norms which reinforce obedience and compromise. This is above all a class conscious novel that seeks to examine both fascist society and myths about American meritocracy at a time where both problems have arisen in the present with great historical parallels. Motivated by love, lust and idealistic thinking, both young protagonists will have to first liberate themselves before they can ever think to liberate country, and ever dream of seeing each other again.
Authors note:
An outline is currently underway with a full outline and first draft of a manuscript expected by 2026. A polish draft will be written under consultation with a historical fiction editor while in Paris, and will be available late 2026.