Author Description

Eric Fitzpatrick has been planning his escape for years. The son of an Italian-Irish family in a working-class suburb north of Boston, he intends to be the first in his family to go away to college and, ultimately, leave his small town far behind. All he has to do is keep his hidden desires secret, preserve his straight-arrow reputation, and hold it all inside for his final year of high school. As community racial tensions mount after a local girl is murdered, Eric meets Brooks, a wealthy black student from the nearby prep school. Drawn to him and frightened by all that he represents, Eric falls into an intense relationship with Brooks - one that threatens to topple the facades that Eric has held on to for so long, walls that have, so far, saved him from himself. When Eric's family dramas escalate along with those of the town, Eric is faced with the dilemma of his awakening sexuality and what that means about the future he has been striving for.