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Detroit in the 1920s proved to be the Paris of the West for many – including Catherine McIntosh and Robert Sage. These two law school students become as passionate about each other as they are their dreams.
From a poor family in the Detroit neighborhood of Corktown, Catherine learned early on, the necessity of being resilient. She becomes one of the first women in Detroit to obtain a law degree. Bob, the ‘battling barrister,’ boxes in order to pay for law school. Despite his gruff and tough-boy personality, my great uncle Bob was a friend to all: judges, cops, and even a couple members of the notorious Purple Gang. The couple becomes legendary in legal circles for their commitment to social justice causes – as well as notorious in the local speakeasies and dancehalls.
At first, their optimism seems boundless, as it had for so many following an era of trauma and challenges that include the 1918 flu pandemic. It isn’t long before their passionate courtship turns into a tempestuous marriage. Then the Great Depression hits and their lives are forever changed.
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/mZqj52
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dancing-in-the-ring-susan-e-sage/1143307788?ean=9781685132194
Waterstones:
Susan Sage has published three novels: Insominy (2015), A Mentor and Her Muse (2017), and Dancing in the Ring (2023). Her writing has appeared in various literary magazines and journals. She received her English degree from Wayne State University where she was a recipient of the Tompkins Award in creative writing.
Although a Detroit native, she has resided most of her adult life in Flushing, Michigan with her husband and two cats.
Dancing in the Ring
One early September evening before the sun had set, the young couple drove to Belle Isle. Catherine snuggled up to Bob, who was behind the wheel. The air was less humid, though still warm. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was spring—but a spring that brought with it an awareness of numinous death around the corner.
Bob said there was something he wanted to show her. She followed him through a wooded area to a clearing. There stood an ordinary door—except that it was painted ocean blue. Some of the paint was chipped, but the brilliant blue beckoned you. It stood by itself, attached to a frame, but with no walls.
Why it was there hadn’t mattered to either of them.
The door was partly ajar, so they opened it further and glimpsed a wild, overgrown garden. He took her hand and led her through the doorway. Catherine declared it the most magical place she’d ever seen. A piece of paradise not far from the crime-ridden city…
Seated on a solitary bench facing the garden they gleaned an enchanted world, including a ribbon of the river beyond. She wore a gauzy, fairylike green gown, and he had on the same vest with a watch chain that he’d worn when they first met. He’d replaced the boater hat with a fedora.
He told her his mother would find this place, as the Irish would say: “all lure.”
“What’s ‘all lure’ mean, Bob? Alluring?”
“I think she says it when she’s delighted by something. You’re the alluring one, my Kate, and ‘to be lured away’ by each other is most alluring. If we look close enough, maybe we’ll be able to detect the wee folk watching us from behind a tree or bush.”
In the gloaming hour, Bob kneeled before her, removed his hat, and proposed.
Website: https://www.susansage.net
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SusanSage.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mentorandhermuse.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/zannasage
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/zanna56
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0044UYRA6
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8190102.Susan_E_Sage.com
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