The Hand of the Engraver

An affair. A baby. A question of fatherhood. Helen Lawrence feels abandoned. She’s married to an artistic and self-centered craftsman engraver, who is also an outstanding low-handicap golfer. Helen is young, vulnerable, and attractive. As a work and golf widow however, she seethes with unrest from lack of marital support. She assuages her anger in a tryst with a neighbor. It weighs heavily on her mind however, and she retreats to a dark fantasy world where she and God commune as she tries to atone for her sins. Her guilt overtakes her, resulting in outlandish behavior. Her husband, David, is forced to commit her to an insane asylum. There, her condition worsens, and a return to sanity is denied her. She dies eight months after admittance, with a perplexing outburst on her death bed. Does her secret die with her? Who is the father of her daughter Cecily? Is her husband’s conviction correct? The answers are found only in her dying words and at her gravesite. This story is about tragedies affecting real people. It’s wrapped in the cocoon of a memoir which juxtaposes the events of the past with the personal research process that sought to unravel the truth in the path of family history.