"The Story so Far" by Jane Eklund

236 pages; Published by Bauhan Publishing, LLC ©2020

The Seventies are entering the downturn, and a young woman is minding her own business at work in the college library. It's one of those days that start like any other, and the young, unassuming professional, the main character in "The Story so Far" by Jane Eklund, has no idea this day will change her life.

This is the day she will meet "The Author"; an older, alluring woman who is known for writing, "the kind of book my friends and I mocked over pitchers of beer... Here, at the library, it wasn't even worthy of a catalog number." The books could be cheesy and preposterous, but they covered the bills and paid for the trips she frequently took. The attraction between the author and the main character is immediate and undeniable. Set over the course of twenty-five years, it follows the library assistant as she goes from work to The Author's home to her own home, a duplex she shares with a gay man, Jeff, who is having an affair with a married, "heterosexual" professional.

The assistant spends her twenties questioning not only her existence, but also how exactly to define her relationship with The Author. When they are together, they are together and great for each other, but there always seem to be circumstances where The Author shoos her out of the house or there is a trip that must be taken without her. Questions surrounding the "relationship" surface when she meets another woman at a lecture for the women's studies department. Will she allow the "flirting" to progress into something more, or will she decline in hopes of what she wants with The Author, and what happens when someone you haven't seen makes you the emergency contact after a stroke?

The Author is working on her next novel. Nuns are making their way on a wagon train. While there are conversations about the characters and some questioning their higher calling, the assistant finds herself having her own conversations with Socrates, Hildegard, and Pleshette. With Jeff's help, she navigates her way through life and the library. The book speaks to 20-somethings of all walks of life who may question their existence at some point, but continue to leave their homes and go to work and school simply because they have to. At some point, while sitting at a banquet for a dying friend or just sitting on the porch sharing a beer, you find a way to figure out what it's all about.