In the Midst of Wolves

It's 1896. New York City is hardly the ideal place for a child whose father has disappeared and whose mother has fled from reality to the comfort of her piano. Eight-year-old Leigh Blackwell, determined to care for her mother and make ends meet, leaves school and takes a job in the garment district. Just as life's challenges threaten to overwhelm her, she finds nine-year-old Tom Paterson, a streetwise pickpocket, on her front steps.

Tom and Leigh's lives soon intertwine as he appoints himself her protector and shares part of his meager earnings with her. After her love of horse racing eventually leads Leigh to a job at a thoroughbred stable, she finally attains independence and slowly pulls away from the one who has quietly fallen in love with her. But when Leigh leaves New York and becomes entangled with a bitter, angry man, her desire to help him nearly costs Tom his life--and their chance at ever finding happiness together.

In the Midst of Wolves recounts the unconventional coming-of-age journey of a homeless pickpocket and an enterprising orphan as they grow into adulthood in the early twentieth century despite many obstacles, including some that are of their own making.

P. L. Novak was raised in upstate New York and earned BA and MA degrees in English literature. After a twenty-five-year career as a technical editor and manager in Washington State, she returned to New York, where she now resides. This is her first published novel.