Reflections of Broken Stained Glass: A Novel of Madness and Addiction (The MacFays)

By Barbara Duquette Sylvain

Reflections of Broken Stained Glass is a psychologically complex work of literary fiction focusing on the multifaceted worlds of mental illness and addiction in relationships.43-year-old Dr. Jennifer Connors has bipolar disorder. She works part-time at a library at Ivy League Ballymoor College in New Hampshire, where she meets theology professor Michael MacFay. Jennifer is suffering from a depressive fugue of amnesia that challenges the relationship she and Michael develop. Michael MacFay, 50, is a theology professor who once intended to become a Catholic priest. His studies took him around the world and brought him back to his alma mater, Ballymoor. He is also a drug addict and alcoholic. Although unable to adhere to the vow of obedience, he embraced celibacy, believing in keeping a sexual relationship for marriage. An intensely physical man, he is able to keep his vow until he meets the one woman to steal his heart, Jennifer Connors. Michael and Jennifer agree to spend one year "courting." When they wed, their new vow of marriage replaces the vow of celibacy with a steaming passion. Jennifer has a breakthrough in her depression and an end to the fugue of amnesia. Their love and life together seem ideal, and they appear to be the perfect couple. However, Michael faces his own secret demons as he tries to keep Jennifer from slipping into another bipolar depression that could cost her life, using alcohol and drugs to cope with their crises. Jennifer goes to a treatment center an hour away for several months to deal with anorexia. In a twist to the story, Michael and Jennifer learn something about him that they both had begun to suspect over time: he has more in common with Jennifer than they had realized. He is diagnosed as bipolar, addicted and alcoholic. This is the story of how love can conquer all, including the darkness in our lives: depression, mania, dementia, anorexia, alcoholism, and drug addiction.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1729424112
• ISBN13: 9781729424117
• Release Date: October 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"