In this stylish and gripping historical noir novel, Randall Harkerthe controversial city editor of an established progressive daily in the urban Midwest of 1950excites the wrath of a reckless, corrupt, and ambitious U.S. senator anxious to make a name for himself as the countrys most ardent anti-Communist. Decidedly flawed and afflicted by personal demons and political foes, Harker finds himself abandoned by friends and colleagues as he loses his wife, his reputation, and his job. He also finds himself losing the very sense of his own identity. With its gritty realism and dead-on period detail, the elegant prose of Estranged renders the rough-and-tumble world of mid-century journalism, the historical post-war battle between the Mob and trade unions, and the tender, intimate, and sensual moments of Harkers desperate romantic escape from the nightmare that his personal and professional life has become. In a tale whose events and themes very much reverberate in Trumps America, the novel addresses surprisingly contemporary concerns about gender, homosexuality, and sexism, although at an oblique, historical angle. This is a story that occurs at the intersection of public and private life, of love and work with politics and history.
