The Magnolia Conspiracy
by Jeane Harris
Category: Fiction

The Magnolia Conspiracy is a passionate tale of revenge and redemption, a story of unforgettable emotional range and depth. It charts the lives of four women who struggle with the pasts, women who stand united, held together by a deep and abiding love for each other. Professor Claire Jordan lives with the memory of a brutal assault. Only when her attacker, Gerald Steckman, is convicted of the crime and sentenced to prison is Claire able to rebuild her shattered life. With her partner, artist Jane Sellers, she settles in Denver and attempts to put the horror of her experience behind her. But when her friend's young daughter, Chloe, is found brutalized, she is drawn back into the web of terror once more. When she discovers that it is Steckman who has raped Chloe, Claire is stunned and then, outraged. As Steckman stalks and attacks women in the Capitol Hill area of Denver where she lives, Claire, her lover Jane, and their two friends, Mattie and Brooke, decide to take matters into their own hands. Their conspiracy is born in The Steel Magnolia, a bar frequented by the four women. Frustrated by the lack of progress by the police, the women enlist the aid of Denver's gay community to find Steckman and bring him to justice. But the justice the women plan for Steckman is not society's justice. Claire's obsession with finding the man who raped her is driven by her need to exorcise the fear that has haunted her for years. Only when Steckman is dead, she decides, will she be safe.