Foreword
Human nature works in strange and wonderful ways. Each one of us has a set of standards which we have compiled ourselves or have had handed down to us by parents. Perhaps more usually the said standards are a combination of both. And because we have those criteria, we feel justified in being able to say, I would never do that ... or I would never dream of....
Yet how often do we break our own rules? The power of persuasion is very great and we are usually able to balance the tally sheet of our conscience by consoling ourselves that circumstances were attenuating. But this same charitable outlook never seems to apply when someone else breaks his, or our own (often the same) set of rules. In cases like that, blame is heaped on the offending person, and circumstances are never at fault.
If we could all only judge things as they actually are rather than as they seem, the world would be a happier place to live in. Yet even with our nearest and dearest, we too often neglect to apply simple charity. We do not examine circumstantial evidence, but instead condemn on the basis of the so-called offence alone.
Authoress Cecilia Stanley explores just such a behavioral pattern in her newest compelling work. Step by step, she shows the blindness which can lead people along paths they were sure they would never follow, while at the same time reveals how these same people can castigate anyone they see acting similarly.
The next time we witness some transgression of our communal standards, we should stop and ask ourselves how we would have acted under the circumstances. If the answer is a decided "differently," maybe we should stop and take a long hard look at ourselves.
Better yet, examine the events of this evocative new novel and evaluate each situation as it is seen through the eyes of different people.
Maybe then judgment won't be reached quite so quickly ... or be so uniformly harsh.
-The Publishers