by 
In the Shadows of the Oaks
An Urban Tale
by Frank Settineri
(Romance, suspense, race, education)
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This is the hard hitting story of life in an inner city. Sean Allen reluctantly accepts a teaching position in an urban school, initiating the darkest period of his life. His preconceived perceptions of the neighborhood plunge to abysmal depths as he witnesses the chaos, intimidation, racism and corruption within the school system, and the city. Encouraged by a basketball buddy Sean begins home tutoring and meets Landi, the mother of a student, who repudiates his presence from the very beginning. The more Landi spurns him the more infatuated he becomes with her and the more he is torn between her and Brenda, a teacher he dates. Their lives become intimately entangled in the present and past and are punctuated with romance, love, hostility and betrayal. While his encounters with Landi and Brenda spin out of control, the community also spins out of control – a vicious mayoral election, the murder of an innocent youth, an accidental death, a precipitous battle between warring street gangs and a public outcry regarding his relationship with Landi and Brenda. Filled with tension, hostility and passion this novel exposes the corrupt state of affairs in the schools, the city, and the country, sometimes in a manner that is politically incorrect. Although fictitious, many parts of it are played out every day in school districts throughout the country and it is the author’s intent to show that despite all the outward differences between races, there are more similarities than what first meets the eye.
A Word from the Author
This novel is the struggle of Sean Allen, a white teacher in an inner-city school, who is torn between two beautiful black women, Brenda and Landi, a colleague and the mother of a student he tutors, respectively. Inevitably their lives become entangled in the past and present, dominated by romance, love, hostility, friendship and betrayal. While their relationships spin out of control, the community concurrently speeds out of control – a vicious mayoral election, the murder of an innocent youth, an accidental death of a gang leader, a public outcry regarding Sean’s relationships, and a precipitous battle between warring street gangs, culminating in a tumultuous ending. The novel is politically incorrect, to a degree, but its message is that we all share the same desires and needs, no matter what race or background from which we originate. I hope it is inspirational and helps heal the racial divide that has plagued our country for hundreds of years.
(Frank Settineri, December 2020)
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