Slow Dance in a Winter Garden

Following Nathaniel Hawthorne’s footsteps in Rome, a disillusioned middle-aged writer seeks meaning in things of little value while mistaking the needs of the soul as trivial, and of the heart as unreliable. Inspired in part by Hawthorne’s The Marble Faun, this tale is also a bit of a travelogue, as significant events often take place in sites of historical mystery. Though somewhat dark and serious, Slow Dance in a Winter Garden is a story of contemporary people who find themselves – like Nathaniel – torn between the persons they had hoped to be and those they have actually become.

R. Thomas Sheardy, a retired professor of art history, has taught classes in Native American, Asian and Islamic arts. His professional publications include Searching for America: Essays on American Art and Architecture (Cambridge Scholars, 2006), for which he served as editor. His fiction has appeared most recently in the Write Michigan 2016 Anthology (Schuler Books and Chapbook Press, Grand Rapids, MI), a juried competition. He has done archaeological work in the jungles of Yucatan and is an avid traveler. He is also an artist, maintains a large English garden, and raises orchids. He resides in Crockery Township, Michigan.