Desdemona

Dante Torn is a thirteen year-old boy living in Norwalk, Ohio. He is quiet and obedient. Respectful of his elders. His manners are good. So are his grades.

But his life begins to change when he meets and falls in love with Sunset Desdemona, a red-headed firefox who goes to his school. Sunny is sly, devious, precocious. A girl with narrow eyes and a knowing sneer.

Setting his sights on her is easy. Winning her is not, as Sunny, who also sees Dante as a potential mate, puts him through a number of unusual tests to prove his mettle.

As Dante gets closer and closer to winning her love, he also comes to see that she is not what she seems. Darkness hovers just beyond her shoulders, and in it, strange things keep appearing. How is it she can always get what she wants? Why does she have an entire group of girls at her beck and call? And what about her parents? They seem totally at ease with their daughter’s commanding ways.

Who are the Desdemonas really? Being in love, Dante feels he has no choice but to find out.

Helping him is a retired opera singer who lives down the street. He tells Dante a number of stories from his youth that in strange ways relate to his affair with Sunny.

Love is a martyr. Pain is a cross. Mystery is the ghost that comes after. Read on about a boy who discovers all three, and in the end confronts a choice even the wisest of men would do well to avoid.