{"product_id":"punishment-a-love-story-9781943383528","title":"Punishment: A Love Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA lesbian parolee re-integrates into life in DC in a dark comedy about the dangers and delights of humiliation.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDesiree Schulman is home from federal prison--almost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Des returns to Washington, DC under \"conditional release,\" she wants three things: to repair her relationships, to practice humility, and to stay out of prison. So she reconnects with her local sadomasochists' group, and pursues an elusive ex. She takes a state-mandated job cleaning (and judging) other people's houses, flings a few prayers at whatever Higher Power might be listening, and spends her group therapy trying to justify her happy childhood to the women of her halfway house.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Des's downwardly-mobile skid through the gentrifying city is more dangerous than she realizes. Behind a high fence in wealthy Upper Northwest, a cult is preying on vulnerable women. And when Des discovers their secret, she'll have to find out whether she's willing to risk her own freedom for somebody else's.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet in the shadow of the 2016 elections, Punishment is a story about all the ways we surrender: the ridiculous ways and the sublime ways and the sad sordid ways; the ways which damage us and the ways which may, if we're lucky, heal us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Clickworks Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50370287206674,"sku":"9781943383528","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_6f61d3dd-127a-4acc-9e15-6afcc5a467a5.jpg?v=1728529980","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/punishment-a-love-story-9781943383528","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}