Captivity: A Novel

When someone releases the chimpanzees at the South Carolina Primate Project, its director, Dana Armstrong, is forced to confront the complexity of both her past and the present as she struggles to preserve the chimps' sanctuary.

“A South Carolina chimpanzee sanctuary affiliated with a university provides the unusual setting for Wesselmann’s powerful second novel. . . . The stirring stories of Dana Armstrong and her family play out in unforgettable fashion. With empathetic insight, the author precisely observes both human and animal behavior.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Debbie Lee Wesselmann states that her goal as a storyteller is to keep the reader turning pages until late into the night. That statement should come as a warning label on Captivity. Once you start this highly original and beautifully written book with its fascinating cast of chimpanzees, caretakers and exploiters, you won’t be able to put it down until finished. Then you will want to tell everyone, ‘do yourself a favor and read this amazing book!’ ”
Cassandra King, author of Queen of Broken Hearts

“Wesselmann writes with courage and flair, willing to take risks most writers would shy away from—but she hits the mark every time. She manages to give us what John Updike has called ‘the human news.’ She tells the truth about what it means to be human.”
Robert Bausch, author of A Hole in the Earth