Acts of Kindness, Acts of Contrition: A Love Story

The novel, Acts of Kindness, Acts of Contrition, begins with an act of violence, the still unsolved West Los Angeles murder of Jeanne French in February 1947. America had triumphantly won World War II, and a time of prosperity and post-war frivolity reigned in Southern California's comfortable suburban neighborhoods.  Narrated by Lynn Horvath, a child who knew and loved the vivacious victim of the crime, the book explores the long-term effects of violence.  As Lynn and her friends become adults during the mid-century's radical changes in social behavior, the novel reveals incidents of both quiet and dramatic heroism in each of their lives as Jeanne's memory shadows them.