H

After being infected with herpes, Joan Halprin, a single woman in her mid-thirties, feels untouchable. She spent her youth enjoying worldly experiences in New York and other cities, but now it's time to start a serious career as a copywriter for a Fort Lauderdale advertising agency. Despite feeling like a pariah in her personal life, Joan is anxious to prove herself professionally. Fort Lauderdale in the 1980s is experiencing a real estate boom. Joan's parents have moved from Boston to a retirement community in the area, and her brother and his thrifty wife have settled nearby. But even with the presence of her family, Joan feels isolated with her H problem, despite knowing that one in four women, and one in five men, are similarly afflicted. Her irascible, rotund new boss certainly isn't helping her regain her self-esteem. But with her irrepressible humor, Joan concocts an extraordinary solution to most of what ails her. Will this creative project work? H: A Novel is an amusing and original tale of office politics, sex, and one woman's search for her true identity.