Circles in the Water
When young Jimmie Broder witnesses the death of a friend's father in a brutal domestic quarrel, he's left with a sense of helplessness and an unwitting habit of taking the easy way out that follow him into adulthood. Unable to face their painful circumstances, he runs away and seeks refuge as an Army paratrooper at the very time Colletta, the woman he loves, needs him most. The book picks up Broder's story after a training accident leaves him seriously injured, brings Colletta back into his life, and forces him to face not only a jumpless future but also his troubled past. His ordered military existence and the exquisite thrill of the jump no longer insulate him from memories of life in small town South Carolina, surrounded by poverty, racism, alcohol and drug addiction and, finally, rape and its terrible consequences.
The Story Behind This Book
I read a newspaper story about a drug deal that led to a shootout in which a police officer shot a pusher to death, and it turned out to be his best friend from childhood. I wanted to write a book about childhood friends--and particularly childhood sweethearts--whose lives take different directions and show how behavior in our youth can affect our adult lives.
