After The Sucker Punch

They buried her father at noon, at five she found his journals, and in the time it took to read one-and-a-half pages her world turned upside down... he thought she was a failure. Every child, no matter what age, wants to know their father loves them, and Tessa Curzio - thirty-six, emerging writer, ex-rocker, lapsed Catholic, defected Scientologist, and fourth in a family of six complicated children - is no exception. But just when she thought her twitchy life was finally coming together - solid relationship, creative job; a view of the ocean - the one-two punch of her father's death and posthumous indictment proves an existential knockout. She tries to "just let it go," as her older sister suggests, but life viewed through the filter of his damning words is suddenly skewed, shaking the foundation of everything from her solid relationship and winning job to the truth of her family, even her sense of self. From there, friendships strain, bad behavior ensues, new men entreat, and family drama spikes, all leading to her little-known aunt, a nun and counselor, who lovingly strong-arms Tessa onto a journey of discovery and reinvention. It's a trip that's not always pretty - or particularly wise - but somewhere in all the twists and turns, unexpected truths are found. Author and longtime t contributor, , takes an irreverent look at father/daughter relationships through the unique prism of Tessa's saga and its exploration of family, faith, cults, creativity, new love and old, and the struggle to define oneself against the inexplicable perceptions of a deceased parent. Told with both sass and sensibility, it's a story wrapped in contemporary culture but with a very classic heart. Cover design by Grace Amandes. Cover photographs by