In The Blood

About the Book

In the Blood is a novel about values, trust and betrayals, where friendships and guilty memories live within the context of a social and political environment as beliefs and ethics are challenged in the face of dedication and a struggle for ideals. The story centers on three young men, two close friends in childhood, one white, one black, and another young man who remains an outsider. The Smith family and the Jones family were, unwittingly, distant relatives to storied ancestors. Isaac Smith and Darrell Ralph Jones, name sakes of the patriarchs of both families, were children encircled by circumstance and necessity. As adults their separate lives eventually bring them into direct conflict over the divisive issue of abortion. While family betrayal fractures the Smith family, the Jones family is haunted by the untimely death of a loved one. The young Malachy Tongers has a fated struggle to overcome the background of his parentage; he is a gentle flower struggling to survive in a mud-pit of duplicity: seduced by his teacher, ostracized by those whose trust and love he needs most, forced to run away to New York City, his life is one exhaustive battle to endure. All three of these young men meet directly and indirectly in a conflict that is ever present within the America psyche: Tragedy awaits each of these young men; yet there are levels of satisfaction if not complete triumph that takes off the edge somewhat of worlds none of them have made.

About the Author

William F. Browne is a professor of English at Brooklyn College (CUNY). Dr. Browne has written Two Kinds of Courage - Frederick Douglass and John Brown : A Look at Their Relationship (1999 Black Book Award Winner [US & US CommSys] ), Sassy, a novella, two books of short stories Jake Hands - 3 Plus 6 Other Stories and “Clipsed!” and Other not Crazy but Peculiar Stories, along with two volumes of poetry. His ariticles and book reviews have appeared in numerous publications, such as Fiction International, Dictionary of American Biography, The Gissing Newsletter, and FYI: Newsletter of the Coalition of Higher Education.