The Gulf

Boggs (The Art of Waiting) brings characters to unexpected rapport in her droll yet genuine unpacking of contemporary for-profit education and culture wars. Underemployed atheist poet Marianne hesitantly agrees to serve as the director of a new low-residency writing program for Christian authors being set up by her ex-fiancé Eric in his great aunt’s rundown Florida hotel. An unusual set of writers forms the school’s first group, including a has-been singer attempting a born-again comeback and Janine, a frustrated home economics teacher who writes poems from the perspective of Terri Schiavo. Students initially complain about nearly everything but soon form productive bonds. Surprised by the apparent success of the program, Marianne wilfully ignores how Eric’s venture capitalist brother Mark is turning control over to an aggressive, Christian-oriented for-profit education group called God’s Word God’s World. When she learns that God’s Word God’s World has close ties with extreme pro-life activists, Marianne struggles to reconcile her own politics, her lingering feelings for Eric, and her attachment to the students. Readers will find this witty, nuanced work both satisfying and resonant. Agent: Maria Massie, Massie & McQuilkin. (Apr.)