EBOOK
About
Desiree Schulman is home from federal prison--almost.When Des returns to Washington, DC under "conditional release," she wants three things: to repair her relationships, to practice humility, and to stay out of prison. To do this she'll journey through all the phantasmagoric communities of the new Washington, on a downwardly-mobile skid through the gentrified city. She'll face "community supervision" offices decorated mostly to express contempt, take a job cleaning (and judging) other people's houses, and try to justify her happy childhood to the women of her halfway house.But behind a high fence in wealthy Upper Northwest, a cult is preying on vulnerable women. When Des discovers their secret, both of her communities must come together--her old friends in the local sadomasochists' group, and her new comrades in the halfway house. The cult will force Des to decide how much she'll risk for somebody else's freedom.Set in the shadow of the 2016 presidential election, Punishment is a story about all the ways we surrender: the ridiculous ways and the sublime ways and the sad sordid ways; the ways which damage us and the ways which may, if we're lucky, heal us.