Publisher's Synopsis
Angels Hour tells of a recovering alcoholic's therapy with a suicidal adolescent female. Steven Renaldi, age 40, is two years sober and employed as a clinical therapist at a mental health agency. Jackie Sorrentino, age 17, is referred to the agency after a suicide attempt. The novel is structured in such a fashion as to demonstrate the parallels between the therapeutic process and the hero's journey, as outlined in Joseph Campbells, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. The central theme of the novel is that a good life must be earned. Jackie initially responds to The Call to Adventure with resistance. She is confrontational and often resorts to intellectualization as a means to thwart Steven's clinical interventions. Crossing The Threshold is the next stage of Jackie's therapy. Here she begins to uncover unconscious memories. They are of such trauma that a second suicide attempt occurs. When Jackie ventures Beyond The Watcher in her therapy, she experiences a level of psychic unease that results in several cancelled sessions. Dream analysis becomes an integral part of therapy. Entering The Belly Of The Whale, Jackie becomes immersed in unconscious energy that yields clues to childhood mysteries. The Road Of Trials is the stage of Jackie's therapy where the work of processing losses in her life commences. More clues are revealed. A precipice in therapy is reached when Jackie faces her Dark Satori, the secret of her past. She must now decide what to do with this knowledge. Jackie's therapeutic journey ends and she achieves A Freedom To Live by moving beyond loss and into new adventures. A subtext of the novel is Steven's own journey. His gradual ascension from sarcastic, struggling alcoholic to one who can see the beauty and wonder oflife is illustrated in chapters alternating with Jackie's journey. The author is fifty- four years old. He possesses a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in Child Development. He has been employed as a clinical social worker for the past twenty- five years, specializing in the treatment of adolescents and their families. He is the author of The Tao of Creative Caddying.
