How to Earn Your Keep

Kit Lavoie has lost her collegescholarship, and is back at her seaside homenorth of Boston working for a personal injury lawyer. Responsible for her childlikemother and her brother, Larry, Kit willingly goesalong when her boss enlists her to help snarea wealthy defendant who could make the firmmillions--until the facts of the case pit Kit’sconscience against her need to make a living.As Larry, sexually unsure and impulsive, learnsto trust himself, he gives his sister the courageto act. Set on the windy ocean marshes northof Boston, How to Earn Your Keep takes a hardlook at how economic stress can unravel one’smorality. And how, sometimes, one illuminatingmoment can bring us back to our senses.

Deahn Berrini aims to give voice to those not backed by education, connections or luck. Her first novel, Milkweed, which looks at post-traumatic stress disorder in returning vets from the family’s point of view, was praised by Richard Currey, author of the classic Fatal Light, and recommended by the Vietnam Veterans of America’s The VWA Veteran. She writes for her local newspaper and teaches writing. A graduate of Brown University with a degree in History and an alum of Boston College Law School, she lives north of Boston with her family and is at always at work on her next novel. Contact her at: deahn.berrini@gmail.com