At First I Hope for Rescue

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

A woman who often wonders if her life is not just one long losing streak
discovers that she may now lose her best friend because she asked one
question too many. A bulimic teenage valley girl returns home to find
her mother and her house immolated in a California grass fire. A child
molester insists that there is nothing really wrong with him. A
depressed and alcoholic resort owner hires an assistant, only to
discover that her emotional problems are even scarier than his.

These are some of the characters who populate this collection of
stories by award-winning author Holley Rubinsky. Rubinsky’s ability to
explore horrific subjects and situations with insight and humor keeps us
from slamming the book on these characters, who would be right at home
on a trashy TV talk show.

As the title of the book suggests, all the main characters in these
stories have lost hope of ever being rescued. All they can do now is try
to hang on to what is left of their chronically dysfunctional
lifestyles. It may not be pretty, but it is virtually impossible to look
away.