Intersections

For fans of Emma Straub and Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeny, a debut contemporary women’s fiction novel about obsession, forgiveness, and friendship between two unlikely people.

Style-guru Charlotte Oakes sells beautiful lifestyles, but her mentally ill daughter is an addict, her long marriage is dead, and she is pregnant with her ex-lover’s baby. Stunned after witnessing a hit-and-run in Chicago that leaves a child dead, Charlotte thinks she sees her Prius fleeing the scene. Her troubled daughter, Libby, is the only one who could have been driving.

His partner and best friend killed in a drug bust, police officer Ed Kelly learns that forensics has found that the fatal bullet came from Ed’s gun. Under internal investigation, Ed copes by filming cars at the site of the recent hit-and-run, hoping to catch the child’s killer. There, he notices Charlotte’s pilgrimages to the makeshift memorial, and over the weeks, the two become unlikely friends sharing intimate stories. But Charlotte won’t trust him with her most vulnerable secret of all: her suspicions about her daughter’s involvement in the accident.

When Ed finally learns the truth about the accident, he struggles with his beliefs and duties. If he keeps quiet, he has breached his commitment to the law. But if he does the right thing as an officer, he may send Libby to jail—and lose Charlotte.

Karen F Uhlmann observed a police officer, who had been on the scene of a hit-and-run death of a child, return to the intersection four or five afternoons a week to videotape and ticket cars. His grief and dedication were heartbreaking—and became the seed for Intersections. Karen received her MFA in fiction from Bennington in 2010 and has published short stories and book reviews in Southern Indiana Review, Story, Whitefish Review, and The Common among others. She won the 2016 Rick Bass/Montana Fiction Award, and the 2012 Northern Colorado Writers Award judged by Antonya Nelson. She was recently shortlisted for the Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction and longlisted for a collection of short stories by The Santa Fe Writers Project. A long-time Chicago resident, she now lives in Los Angeles.