The Pond's Reflection

At age 23, Frances Louise Carter falls deeply and blindly in love with handsome and charming David Kuspin. There are plenty of red flags, but Frannie ignores them. After a year of going together, they plan to be married in a modest ceremony. Frannie's mother assures her that she will always remember that special day, feeling completely loved and cherished.

On her wedding day, Frannie feels no love and affection from David, and on her wedding night, she definitely does not feel cherished. The scales have fallen from her eyes, and she spends much of that night crying into her pillow. She now knows that the man she married is not the one she loved. She rises early, writes a letter of explanation, and leaves the hotel to catch a bus home.

Thus begin two years of soulsearching and introspection. Frannie chooses to do much of this sitting by a peaceful pond, talking to the ducks. They become her closest companions and most trusted confidantes. Emerging at last from...