cover image Dancing on Broken Glass

Dancing on Broken Glass

Ka Hancock. S&S/Gallery, $15 trade paper (416p) ISBN 978-1-4516-3737-3

Thirty-somethings Mickey Chandler and Lucy Houston are married and desperately in love, but like all couples, they have their problems—Mickey is bipolar, and Lucy’s family has a history of breast cancer, which she’s battled once already. In order to preserve their marriage in the face of biological contingencies, they’ve drafted a contract governing their day-to-day lives. However, the rules fail to apply when Lucy discovers that she is pregnant, despite having had a tubal ligation. Three months into the pregnancy, they learn that Lucy’s cancer has returned and spread to her lungs, but she can’t do chemo without having an abortion. She refuses treatment and decides to have the baby. Mickey is devastated at the prospect of losing his wife. In an attempt to prove to Lucy his paternal ineptitude (and convince her to undergo treatment and abort the pregnancy), Mickey begins to act out, blaming it on his bipolarity. So Lucy drafts a contract providing, in the event of her death, for a three-way adoption between Mickey; Lucy’s childless sister, Lily; and Lily’s husband, Ron. Despite an occasional reliance on clichés, Hancock’s debut is an authentic tearjerker—an intimate and touching story that will remain in readers’ hearts. Agent: Mollie Glick, Foundry Literary + Media. (Mar.)