Constance — Catherine Cantrell

Constance tells the compelling story of a writer hypnotized by the power of art and language, and about the woman who learns her secrets. The narrator, Morgan Clifford, is an editor at a prestigious New York publishing house whose youthful ideals and belief in literature have been eroded by the practicalities of the business world. Then she meets Constance, a writer whose poetry and haunted personality overwhelm and intrigue her. But Constance remains a mystery no matter how Morgan attempts to draw her out -- until a newspaper photograph exposes what the poet has been so determined to conceal.

Finally, Constance reveals her story to the woman who has waited so long to hear it: a story of passion, secrets, and blinkered devotion; a story of mentors and muses and the love of a powerful man; a story that keeps Morgan asking questions and searching for answers until the end. In Constance, Catherine Can-trell portrays a life that emerges beautifully, simply, and uncompromisingly -- and that is no mean accomplishment.