Written on the Pages - Hardcover

by Curtis Dykstra (Author)

In contemporary Los Angeles, Clay Black, an Oscar-winning young actor tries to manage the fallout in his marriage after his brief tryst is discovered by Carly, his wife, and the only woman he has ever loved.

His attempts at reconciliation that coincide with a journey of self-examination lead him to discover neglected spiritual truths, but compound Carly's distrust because she never knows when he is sincere, or just acting out a well-rehearsed script.

Seeking a new beginning, Clay investigates the purchase of a dilapidated old house that, unknown to him, contains information harmful to the political career of the incumbent California governor who plots to photograph Carly in a compromising position and threatens her with public exposure if the house is purchased. When the photos are seen by Clay, he is forced to reconcile what he sees in them with Carly's account. Roles are reversed when Carly, having opposed the house purchase out of skepticism of Clay's real motives and angry at the extortion attempt, advocates for it, while Clay, seeking to avoid further pain, argues for abandoning it.

Planted evidence leads to charges, a trial, a conviction, and imprisonment with Clay left alone to endure the consequences of Carly's decision to complete the house purchase. Carly's refuge in moral superiority fuels her estrangement from Clay and his despair as he endures her constant rebuffs at his appeals for forgiveness, and the only prison correspondence, a petition for divorce. Faith blossoms in Clay while Carly enters a spiral of deepening unhappiness and personal destruction.

New evidence, a new trial, an acquittal are followed by a shocking request by Clay- petitioning the governor to allow him to serve the remaining five months of the sentence of his terminally ill cellmate, an African American and spiritual mentor. Back in prison, Clay endures an attack on his life and an auction, where his body is the object being auctioned.

Their journeys collide in an unlikely setting, the wedding reception of Clay's trustee where, after dancing with the bride, Clay is shocked to see his ex-wife, Carly, marching slowly toward him.