An exceptional, deeply-moving memoir-a classic love story. In the late 1970s, a fragile thread linked a woman living on Park Avenue in Manhattan and a man in a guarded house in West Africa. "I love you very much he whispered softly across 7,000 miles of ocean and up the East River." Plunge! is a love story, exquisitely told. Sally was a New York career woman when David showed up in her life. Their first dinner date was July 13, 1977, the night of the New York Blackout. Six weeks later he told her he had accepted a job in Nigeria. After a romantic weekend at the Pierre Hotel, David left the city. "The noise of the engines was muffled through the window, and as the plane taxied to the runway, the sound faded away, like a love song drawing to a melancholy close." As David struggled to clear a jungle to build a paper mill in West Africa, Sally worked at her fast-paced job, occasionally flew private planes, and led the tenants of her Park Avenue apartment building into battle against her notorious landlord. Over the next nine months, they corresponded-openly, often with humor-and had three brief reunions: in Nigeria, London and New York. "Perhaps the distance that separated us, the lack of instant interaction, helped us both to communicate more thoughtfully, more honestly and even more passionately than we might have otherwise." "An amazing, beautiful literary accomplishment." - Carol Shaben, author of Into the Abyss "I can't remember the last book that affected me like Plunge! It's very moving and strong and honest and beautifully written. I was drawn in from the start-a gifted writer." - Dalia Pagani, author of Mercy Road "So well written and so compelling." - Louise Crowley, Program Director, Vermont College of Fine Arts, MFA in Writing "A deeply moving and deeply-felt story which will resonate with others as it resonated with me" - Michael Boxall, author, The Great Firewall "Alive and vibrant . . . An interesting, compelling narrative." - Phyllis Barber, author of eight books, including Raw Edges
About the Author: SALLY STILES worked for fourteen years in New York City as an editor and writer and, later, as an advertising executive. In addition, she has published over a hundred magazine articles, several books, poetry and short stories. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts After leaving New York, she and her husband, David, lived in Nigeria, Michigan, New Hampshire, Tanzania, British Columbia, Washington State and Virginia. She taught writing at Lebanon College in New Hampshire, at the Simon Fraser Writing and Publishing Program in Vancouver, B.C., and the Christopher Wren Society at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. Her volunteer work has included, among many other things, running a women's shelter; a craft store; a woman's golf league; and investment club and an after-school enrichment program for primary school children in East Africa. Sally Stiles' other recent book is the revised HAIKU GUIDE TO THE INSIDE PASSAGE (2013).