By Anita Richmond Bunkley. GET near Houston amid shadows of corporate scheming and environmental negligence, Anita Richmond Bunkley's Balancing Act has the immediacy of today's headlines and a feeling of realness. Balanced within Bunkley's story are the tension of a community battling a corporate giant and the pleasure of seeing a hometown girl making good.
Residents believe the plant has something to do with it, but no one is taking the blame.
Elise arrives on the scene to manage the media circus. As fallout from the fiery explosion spills into Flatwoods, more residents become ill, and Elise is drawn deeply into the working-class community. Childhood memories of her vibrant neighborhood are being spoiled by ever-growing rows of vacant homes, the suffering of residents and the foul smell that permeates the air. Elise suspects there's more to the sickness and blight in Flatwoods than ScanTron is saying. Her loyalties to her employer, her community and her marriage are tearing her apart.