2015 Pulitzer Prize Entry
IMAGINED LIVES Memoir (out of print)
This powerful and unflinching memoir is an entry for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in autobiography. It takes us into the life of a woman who both witnesses and participates in extraordinary events starting in the turbulent and historic 1960s. In this poignant autobiography, we are privy to the secrets and lies, anguish, heartbreak, trauma, joy, successes and passion of a life well lived. Through it all, the author has one theme as the backdrop of her life – that love is the only answer.
Go on an unforgettable journey that explores…
Cliffside condos. Condemned houses. Boarding school. A battered mother. An abusive stepfather. Paris nights. The English Channel. Legends at the Apollo Theater. Murderers. A junkie boyfriend. A South African expatriate. An overdose. Caribbean hideouts. Broadway openings. Hurricanes. Carnival. And love. So much love.
Excerpt:
And it was tender, more than a little tender. It wasn’t like in the movies at all, was what I recall thinking. This feeling creeping through me was taking its time and finding the right places to stop and pause. It was different, more subtle than I could have ever expected it to be. This was falling in love. He felt grown and powerful and being in his arms was the second best feeling I’d had in my life. I was trembling inside and prayed to God that it didn’t show outside. I looked up into his face and found him smiling at me.