Blame

Patsy MacLemoore, a history professor in her late twenties with a brand-new Ph.D. from Berkeley and a wild streak, wakes up in jail yet again after another epic alcoholic blackout.

“Okay, what’d I do?” she asks her lawyer and jailers. “I really don’t remember.” She adds, jokingly: “Did I kill someone?”

In fact, two Jehovah’s Witnesses, a mother and daughter, are dead, run over in Patsy’s driveway. How long will Patsy, who was driving with a revoked license, spend in prison? Will she get sober and find a new community? How can she atone for this unpardonable act?