Black Picket

A woman’s narrative of the pursuit of the white picket fence dream in the sixties. Burdened with a weak ego resulting from her restrictive childhood, she built hopes for the future that romanticized escape into a comfortable suburban life. The novel recounts what, in reality, she found. I was getting used to numbing my body and using sex for allowance, perks, and even permission to answer the doorbell. Yes, the doorbell. If my parents were at the door coming for a visit, he would drag me into the bathroom for a quickie. I didn’t want to cry because my dad would pick up on the tears and ask me what was wrong. So I endured stoically, without emotion. Then I was permitted to open the front door.