Through the 1970s, Verdi’s relationship with street-smart Johnson leads her to heroin as well as the brink of destruction. Rescued by a conventional professor willing to give up everything on her behalf, she lives a silent, comfortable life for 20 years–until Johnson returns to re-ignite older passions. Pulled uncontrollably toward the reckless appetites of her youth, Verdi struggles to comprehend her desires and to decide where she wants life to consider her following. Best-selling author Diane McKinney-Whetstone fills this lush, lyrical book using the steamy intensity of great jazz music. Myra Lucretia Taylor adds a rich, rhythmic voice to Verdi’s dangerous, intoxicating, and utterly memorable dance of self-discovery.