The Daredancers: A Novel

At some point in their lives most people realize they would have to dance on life's edges to pursue what they want or believe in. A few do it. They dare to dance in The Daredancers.

Molly Hutchins, a schoolteacher, widowed young and held captive by her memories for a dozen years, chances new love with Frank Perelli whose wife has been institutionalized for many years with violent dementia. They dance on the edge. Then the music stops. Walter (Mac) Macdonald, a gutsy compassionate truthteller minister with other daredancers, becomes one himself when he encounters a caring cosmic Force that seems more present than the God he was taught to believe in. He dares to include his discovery in his dance of faith. It's risky. But so is his friendship with the delightfully irreverent gay agnostic philosophy professor, Wilson Morton. He's venturing outside the box-along with Kate Klein who brings out the Mac in him.

The Daredancers features real-life people who come passionately alive in interweaving strands of suspense that draw the reader into their "beyond-the-edge" venturing. The novel is very accessible yet has a literary-fiction depth that surprises and demands discussion-which makes it an ideal read for book groups. It appeals especially to readers hungry for provocative fiction with substance.

Douglas Alan Walrath has worked as an insurance investigator, musician, factory worker, pastor, teacher, farmer, and most recently a professor of practical theology. For many years he travelled the US, Canada, and England as a strategic planning and conflict management consultant. He is the author or co-author of a dozen books in the fields of American culture, church leadership, literary criticism, and literary fiction. He lives in Maine where he and Sherry, his wife, garden organically, play traditional jazz, and enjoy challenging conversation.