Gratuity: A Novel

"GRATUITY" Contemporary Novel. A great love story takes place within Thomas Jefferson's wine country in central Virginia, during the late 1970s. Jeremy, the maitre d' of an acclaimed French restaurant and escapee from an East Coast professorship, falls in love with Elizabeth, a driven painter and student at nearby University of Virginia. With sharp humor, insight, and naturalistic detail cantankerous characters play across the stage of the dynamic restaurant. Exciting drama reveals the complex personalities of a small, southern town and its metropolitan exiles. The romantic artists and writers finally define a burgeoning art movement. Taormina deftly portrays his characters with the intensity of these halcyon days, showing the milieu of one of our renowned creative centers: Charlottesville, Virginia. "Gratuity" transcends the idea of monetary exchange to project a symbol of grace and achievement for anyone at a dining or writing table. Memorable fiction!