Outside the Lines

A Tale of Love and Complexity Outside the Lines is the poignant and intricate story of a secret love affair between two women set in the 1980s. Maddie, a photojournalist from an aristocratic New England family, is ten years older, married, and has two children, while the author, Helen, the daughter of Eastern European immigrants, is an attorney working at a public defender's office in Boston. Their paths cross in a writing workshop, where the narratives they craft reveal shared histories of family secrets and a deep, albeit perplexing, connection to the Holocaust. As their bond intensifies, Maddie and Helen are forced to confront societal taboos, their own identities, and the fragile dynamics within their families. Their clandestine love unfolds in the shadow of homophobia, adding layers of conflict and concealment. The narrative takes a profound turn when a terminal illness emerges, reshaping the relationships between the two women and their families in unexpected ways. With wit and sensitivity, and in her beautiful style, Fremont delves into the complexities of love, identity, and the courage it takes to defy societal norms.

Helen Fremont is the author of the national bestselling memoir After Long Silence. Her second memoir, The Escape Artist, was selected as an "Editor's Choice" by the New York Times. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, The New York Times, Ploughshares, and The Harvard Review. She has been a teaching fellow at both Bread Loaf and the Radcliffe Institute. She was a Scholar in the Women's Studies Research Center Scholars Program at Brandeis University, and worked as a public defender in Boston, where she now lives with her wife.