Into the Light

Into the Light tells the story of Shane Fetters, a man struggling to create a full life, all the while keeping the secrets of Shiloh, a woman who never was.

Shane, an admittedly gender-confused manic-depressive, is one of five quirky teachers who open up their world to troubled teen Thorn MacDonnell.  The teachers, cognizant of their responsibility to avoid favoritism, aren’t sure how to handle Thorn’s overtures.  Their professional ethics meet head-to-head with their unwillingness to abandon a child in need.

Though Shane’s intentions are pure, his desires are not, and he wages a sometimes desperate war against his feelings for Thorn. 

The other teachers–an obsessive-compulsive control freak, a passive-aggressive former beauty queen, a narcissistic shopping addict, and a surly recovering alcoholic–are too busy with their own demons to realize what they’re dealing with, in Shane.

Into the Light is a multiple-perspective novel that reveals the shared physical journey of characters on solitary psychological and emotional odysseys toward honesty, both with themselve and with each other.

Along the way, the teachers get a lesson of their own:  good people can do all kinds of bad things, if the reasons seem right.

Into the Light is a novel by Dora McAlpin, writing as Ivey Banks.