What a Trip - Paperback

by Susen Edwards (Author)

In this fast-paced coming-of-age novel we meet Fiona, an art student at a New Jersey college who is brilliant, beautiful, and struggling to find herself. Through her eyes we relive the turbulent culture of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, the first draft lottery since World War II, the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, the Kent State University shootings, and the harsh realities of war for Americans in their early twenties.

Fiona's best friend, Melissa, is in a dead-end relationship, pregnant, and going nowhere fast. After Melissa's abortion, Fiona and Melissa spend a week in Florida, where they are introduced to tarot cards and the anti-war movement. Following this experience, Melissa becomes obsessed with the occult; Fiona, though intrigued, approaches the tarot cautiously, with the voice of her conservative Christian mother screaming in her head.

After Fiona's return from Florida, she begins dating Reuben--a journalism major and political activist. Reuben decides to move to Canada to avoid the draft and encourages Fiona to accompany him. But is that really what she wants? Caught between her feelings for Reuben and her own aspirations, Fiona struggles to define herself, her artistic career, and her future.

Author Biography

Susen Edwards is the founder and former director of Somerset School of Massage Therapy, New Jersey's first state-approved and nationally accredited postsecondary school for massage therapy. During her tenure she was nominated by Merrill Lynch for Inc. magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She is currently a full-time writer, and secretary for the board of trustees for Middlesex Public Library. She is the author of Doctor Whisper and Nurse Willow, a children's fantasy, and two adult novels, What a Trip, and Lookin' for Love. Her articles have appeared on Residence11.com, BooksByWomen.org, and DIYMFA.com. Susen's first love is memoir. She has facilitated a Memoir Writers group that has met monthly at the Middlesex Public Library since 2017. A Hunterdon County native, born and raised in Whitehouse Station, Susen now lives in Middlesex, New Jersey with her husband, Bob, and her two fuzzy feline babies, Harold and Maude.