The Education of Gloria Dean

Jim Hart has been on the run since he was a boy. A heroin addict from a small town somewhere in the Rust Belt, he has a terrible secret he's been hiding most of his life. He prostituted himself as a boy and he liked it. The shame tears him apart, propelling him into a life of drugs, prostitution, and excess.

Gloria Dean is a single mother with her own sordid tales from childhood. A scandal at her high school. An affair with her next-door neighbor. A series of betrayals that force her from her small-town life onto the cold streets of New York City, where she meets her destiny.

They fall for one another and Jim soon realizes they have a lot in common. But Gloria knows things about life Jim doesn't. Fortunately for him, she is willing to share. And now you can share that experience too. Based on a true story, The Education of Gloria Dean is the journey of two unlikely heroes who share a powerful connection of sexual shame and exploitation. Their roller-coaster relationship explodes on the page in unchecked desire, fueling a unique healing power. Two desperate characters, both of whom have suffered such miserable childhoods, reach inside to search their deepest depths, explore their truest selves, and plod forward towards recovery. Hold your breath, because this is real: what follows are their most shocking stories, their barest, most base secrets of lust and desire.