Lost in a Masquerade - Hardcover

by Jill Shtulman (Author)

Danny, an enigmatic and alluring advertising executive, and the three women who love him spin an intricate and heartfelt narrative of twisted love, self-sabotage, and emotional growth amid the repercussions of unexamined childhood trauma.

As a child, Danny knew what would follow the pop of a beer can: the raised voices, the slaps, the screams, and the police pounding at the door. He learns fast that the best way to get by is to pretend everything is fine and assume a mask so no one will suspect otherwise.

Then, in college, he meets and marries Sally McAllister, who has lived a life of privilege and faith-based certitude. It takes Danny years to realize that the proper object of his love is not his wife but the warm and boisterous McAllister family.

Fast forward, and Danny is a rising star at a top Madison Avenue advertising agency. There, he meets the charismatic Joanna, who is also hiding a secret.

Forced to grapple between his responsibilities as a husband and father and his mounting passion for Joanna, Danny's carefully constructed mask begins to unravel. Just as he thinks life can't get more complicated, a powerful and insightful third woman enters the scene and leaves him questioning everything he thought he knew.

Narrated by Danny and the three women who love him, Lost in a Masquerade explores the costs of being cocooned in self-denial as it builds to its shocking twist. Will the emotional grenades of his unexamined past blow up his real shot at healthy love?

Rife with psychological insights and authentic to its New York-based 1980s timeframe, Lost in a Masquerade is a daringly hopeful story of self-discovery that keeps readers gripped until the very last page.