Author Description

For Brad Edwards, adolescence is not about proms and Homecomings and sweet, clumsy first romances. It’s about coming of age on a Southern military base in the turbulent 1960s, as the country plunges into the Vietnam War and endures the agonizing birth of the Civil Rights movement. It is a time of fear, confusion and self-doubt, at once absurd, darkly funny and desperately real, as Brad learns that youth is anything but innocent, and that sometimes you make choices, but sometimes they make you. A Place You Can’t Escape follows him as he learns how to be popular, but not popular enough; resilient, but not resilient enough; brave, but not brave enough. He turns away from a faith that both comforts and tortures him, yielding to a hopeless crush on Mimi Petrycha – beautiful, manipulative and cruel. He is alternately befriended, snubbed and bullied by others, while he discovers that the adults in his life can offer no help. When Denise Hawthorne, with a wisdom born of insight and kindness, shows more faith in him than he has in himself, he embraces her love but then abruptly turns her away, lured to a forbidden place by a promise from Mimi. In a single night he sees his life and the life of another spin out of control. Five decades later, he still can’t escape the consequences of the choice he made. “A Place You Can't Escape is a book you can't put down. Nat Richmond's coming-of-age novel grabs you by the heart and doesn't let go.” (Lisa Getter Peterson, two-time co-winner, the Pulitzer Prize) “A compelling chorus of voices. These characters are passing through a crucible, and Nat Richmond handles their stories with warmth, wisdom and compassion.” (Laura Brodie, author, The Widow’s Season) “A coming-of-age novel with uncommon purpose…. Richmond’s dialogue crackles with authenticity.” (Pam Luecke, Pulitzer Prize-winning editor)