A Clean Slate

by Laura Caldwell

Red Dress Ink, November, 2003.
Trade paperback, 320 pages.
ISBN: 037325038X
Subgenre: Chick Lit

A Clean Slate by Laura Caldwell

Kelly McGraw seemed to have it all: a great, high-paying job, the perfect boyfriend and lots of friends. But one day reality smacks her in the face: she goes to her house only to find that her key doesn't fit and someone else lives there. Nothing is right -- her boyfriend thinks she's stalking him and she doesn't seem to have any recollection whatsoever of the last five months of her life. Kelly eventually finds out that her downward spiral started on the day her boyfriend dumped her and she got fired from the job where she thought she was going to make partner. And worse things happened, but Kelly can't remember them-which suits her just fine. Faced with a blank slate for her life, she takes a job with a famous, but disgraced fashion photographer and learns to love her new life. But the past is never far behind us, and Kelly is about to meet up with hers in a very shocking turn of events.

There is more "lit" than "chick" in this compelling and well-written second novel from Laura Caldwell, author of Burning the Map. Ms. Caldwell takes the genre up a notch with her intimate portrait of a woman's life when her world is shattered and she is forced to make some very tough decisions about her future. Written with depth, wit and humor, A Clean Slate is an engrossing read. The underlying theme of the book, that our futures are solely in our own hands regardless of circumstances, is both universal and relevant for today's woman.

A Clean Slate is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the November-December, 2003 of The Internet Writing Journal.