Seven Blackbirds

"Seven blackbirds in a tree, count them and see what they be..." How do you reclaim your life after an abusive marriage? By turns humorous, scandalous, and lyrical, Seven Blackbirds follows Kimberly Baltakis as she stumbles toward wholeness, briefcase in one hand, diaper bag in the other. "At one a.m. in Tulsa the silence is unexpectedly deep. Am I in the city or the country? Is Tulsa urban or suburban, home or alien territory? I'm afraid to go to sleep, so I sit up in bed and ponder the disintegration of my marriage. In his crib, baby Nathan turns in languorous, pink-cheeked slumber and pokes a tiny hand through the bars. In a big city right now, there'd be sirens, airplanes, car alarms; here, nothing. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the country, I am marooned in absolute, dustless, heat-soaked silence. The bottom drops out of the present. The past rushes up from behind and blocks my future, and I'm stranded--stranded in Tulsa, the city of my discontent." First-time author Helen Black is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, University of Chicago, and the University of Tulsa College of Law. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and five children. Join the community at www.sevenblackbirds.com. Discussion questions and more!Black, H. W. is the author of 'Seven Blackbirds', published 2008 under ISBN 9780979662300 and ISBN 0979662303.