Melissa Brown Levine

Splendid Melissa Brown Levine

Splendid is the story of women facing their demons and either being destroyed by them or growing as a result of the internal and external struggles. Splendids marriage is in danger of dissolution due to the secret her husband, Sean, has kept regarding the molestation he endured as a child by his mother. They separate and during this time Splendid suffers a miscarriage. Crystal is in the final stages of a lengthy and painful divorce originating with the abandonment of her son, Askia and herself by her ex-husband, Ray. She has developed such a deep rage and loathing for Ray that she takes the idea of killing him to its extreme. Opal is a lesbian who has had little luck in her relationships with her lovers or her father. However, she has given herself permission to be as she is. Opal presents as mediator providing balance throughout the piece. The reader is personally escorted through each womans story, even to the tragic death of one member of this trio.