When Mary Catherine, the only child of old-fashioned parents, becomes a teacher in a ghetto school, she and her family will never be the same. New ideas and new relationships lead to trouble at home as well as on the job. Since the year is 1953, her struggle to adapt to change plays out against a daily barrage of headlines about a Soviet H-bomb and the long reach of Senator Joseph Mc Carthys Red witch hunt. The two colleagues who offer support each prove to be threat to her peace of mind. The discovery of her fathers double life and the demands of her own increasing sexuality finally drive her to a painful decision.
A propos de l’auteur
Mildred M. Jeffrey, a retired professor of literature and creative writing at Hofstra University, began as a junior high school teacher in New York City at a time when schools were segregated largely according to neighborhoods. Since political correctness had not yet been invented, ethnic and racial tensions often surfaced. A teacher’s day was also complicated by the reach of Senator Joseph Mc Carthy’s Communist witch hunt into the schools.
Before becoming a teacher, Ms. Jeffrey was a by-line reporter for a daily metropolitan newspaper. WALKING THE CLIFFS is her second published novel.