The Whole Golden World

The Whole Golden World

Adult drama
"'Morgan was discovered with one of her teachers in his car.'
Dinah said, 'So what if she was in a car? Whose car?' It had
been raining. She'd probably gotten a ride. 'Where is she anyway?'
'She's at the police station, Mrs. Monetti. She was in a state
of undress.'"
Anyone who enjoys a good courtroom drama will find Kristina
Riggles' The Whole Golden World to be the cat's pajamas. A teacher,
TJ, is on trial for sexually exploiting one of his students, Morgan.
In between scenes in which the lawyers conduct their business, you get
back story that beautifully illuminates the complex identities and
interactions of the most important players.
*TJ has just been switched to teaching higher order math classes.
He's not completely sure he's up to it. His wife is seemingly
obsessed with becoming pregnant. Everything in their marriage seems
to center around procreation. His golden boy brother, Greg, seems to
be lording it over him.
*Morgan feels that she's much more mature than she's given credit
for. She wants to be seen as a woman, not a child. In some ways,
though, she's never had a chance to be a child. She was only a
toddler when her twin brothers were born prematurely and medically
fragile. Constantly eclipsed by their crises, she now does a lot of
their caretaking.
*Dinah, Morgan's mother, doesn't have it easy. She's the founder and
proprieter of the Den, a restaurant that caters mainly to teens and
young adults. Her transient crew of mostly part timers and students
requires a lot of supervision. With a husband who is virtually
married to his job, she's in charge of home and family including
advocating for her special needs sons. They've been mainstreamed as
they begin high school. She likens that to throwing them to the
wolves. Seeing TJ as a criminal who did the unthinkable to her
daughter, she can't grasp why Morgan is taking his side.
*Rain, TJ's wife, wants nothing more than motherhood. Each time
reproductive technology fails she tries again. She began to guess
that TJ might not be as committed to achieving parenthood as she is.
When she finally has a viable pregnancy she learns about the ultimate
betrayal.
Court is in session. If you enjoy a riveting drama you'll want
to join the audience or jury.
On a purrrsonal note, today I had a wonderful discovery. Normally I
love counted cross stitch and can't fit it into my schedule. So when
shelter in place started I thought I'd get a lot done. Much to my
surprise it made me jittery. To be kind to myself I stopped.
Yesterday I remembered I'd promised to knit an afghan for a new baby.
I'd forgotten how relaxing knitting is. Whenever I start working the
yarn a lot of the stress and tension just melts off me like ice cream
off a cone in July. Such a precious discovery! In these pandemic
times we need all the stress busters we can find! (Jules)
So pretty! But why won't my hooman let me help? (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to all the people who are protesting
the senseless and cruel killing of black people by police officers.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


Sent from my iPod