Good And Hard Place, Stanciu, Brett Ann

A stranger, rumored to be a heoin addict, repeatedly breaks into the small-town library Stanciu runs. After she and her board try to get law enforcement to do something about it -- the elementary school children and young parents with babies frequent the place after all -- he commits suicide. Why had she refused to offer him any concern or aid? When she realizes how little she knows about opioid abuse, and how much she fears it, she sets out on a mission, seeking insight from people in recovery, treatment providers, the town police chief, and Vermonts US attorney. She witnesses how tenaciously and often invisibly the threads of addiction tangle into our communities. Unstitched portrays the complexity of interpersonal relationships thrown into relief against the overarching question of what do we owe our neighbors? Stancius quest forces her to see her small town, and herself, in unexpected ways. Her page-turning book will enable others to do the same.