New Novel Explores Poverty, Faith, and the Power of Devotion in 1970s Maine

PORTLAND, Maine - Rezul -- A powerful new work of historical literary fiction, Cynthia & Susan: A Love Story, is set to launch, offering an intimate and unsentimental portrait of two women whose lives intersect amid poverty, faith, and social judgment in late-1970s Maine.

Set in Portland during a period marked by economic instability and rigid moral expectations, the novel follows Susan Asta, a widowed young mother working in clerical roles for Catholic charities while quietly relying on welfare and food stamps to survive, and Cynthia "Cyn" Hickey, a deeply wounded young woman struggling to escape exploitation, abuse, and the long shadow of childhood trauma. When the two meet during Susan's lunch hour in Congress Square Park, an unlikely connection forms—one rooted not in convenience or charity, but in recognition, honesty, and shared vulnerability.

As Susan and Cynthia grow closer, their bond begins to challenge the boundaries imposed by class, religion, gender, and respectability. What begins as cautious friendship deepens into an emotionally sustaining connection that reshapes how each woman understands safety, responsibility, and belonging. The novel resists easy labels, allowing their relationship to exist in the ambiguous space between friendship, devotion, and chosen family—reflecting the realities of an era when certain forms of intimacy could not be openly named.

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Beyond its central relationship, Cynthia & Susan: A Love Story is a layered exploration of social forces that quietly govern everyday life. The book examines poverty not as personal failure, but as a structural condition that demands secrecy, endurance, and constant negotiation. Susan's position—employed by institutions meant to serve the poor while being poor herself—reveals the moral contradictions embedded in charitable systems that privilege appearances over compassion.

Faith plays a central and complex role throughout the novel. Religious belief is shown as both a source of private strength and a site of institutional neglect. While scripture offers solace and meaning, religious organizations repeatedly fail to provide material care to those most in need. The result is a nuanced portrayal of belief shaped by devotion, doubt, and lived contradiction rather than ideology.

The novel also confronts the realities of womanhood under constraint. Susan and Cynthia occupy opposite ends of social judgment—one striving to maintain respectability, the other openly marginalized—yet both are subject to surveillance, moral scrutiny, and limited choices. Through their parallel struggles, the book exposes how women's bodies, labor, and lives are regulated by forces beyond their control.

Cynthia's story, in particular, brings attention to the long-term consequences of sexual exploitation and survival. The narrative approaches these experiences with restraint and seriousness, focusing not on sensational detail but on the enduring impact of trauma and the difficulty of reclaiming agency. Healing, in the novel, is not sudden or complete; it emerges slowly through care, stability, and the presence of someone willing to stay.

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Portland itself is rendered with specificity and affection—not as a picturesque backdrop, but as a living city shaped by its working poor, its street life, its religious institutions, and its overlooked communities. Parks, sidewalks, offices, and apartments become sites of quiet reckoning where lives intersect across class lines.

Written with unflinching honesty and grounded in social realism, Cynthia & Susan: A Love Story is a character-driven novel about survival, moral contradiction, and the forms of love that endure when society offers few safe choices. It asks what it means to live with integrity in a world governed by judgment—and how care, when freely given, can become an act of resistance.

Cynthia & Susan: A Love Story is now available in print and digital formats through major online retailers.

Readers interested in learning more about Cynthia & Susan: A Love Story can visit the official website at https://cynthiaandsusan.com
To learn more about Holzer Books LLC and its publishing services, visit https://holzerbooksllc.com