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Devils in the Sugar Shop

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In Omaha's Old Market, Ashley Allyson teaches an erotic writing workshop while her husband Troy edits an alternative weekly newspaper The Omaha Street. Ashley believes her relationship with Troy is one of trust and bliss as they raise their teenage son Lee. However she is ignorant of the fact that he is having an affair with one of her students, twentyish Peach, who manages along with her twin the bookstore, Mermaids Singing. Her sister Plum is attracted to l photographer Tucker the dwarf. Ashley's friend Deedee Millwood runs the Sweet Shop where she sells sexy items and provides sexual advice to her customers. Her teenage daughter Naomi is attracted to Lee although he is gay. Finally someone stalks African-American artist Vivian Dailey.

Life in the Old Market never changes until email between Peach and Troy is sent to the wrong person. Now all these neighbors will meet as their bohemian lifestyles seem suddenly hypocritical when immoral acts are exposed, yet sex orgies remain the only party in town.

Timothy Schaffert cleverly satires the bohemian lifestyle on the Plains with his deep look at the residents of Old Market. The story line is energetic due to the strong ensemble cast of which each of the prime nine players are fully developed and unique. Though the stalker seems an unnecessary intruder to a fine plot, readers will appreciate the gathering of the artsy DEVILS IN THE SUGAR SHOP.

Harriet Klausner

In a frothy mélange of characters, particularly the females whose angst is stirred by the pre-Valentine's chill of Omaha, the small dramas of marriages in flux and the newly-divorced play out. The confusion of life on life's terms is reflected by the almost-grown children of couples near forty (who barely feel the threat of age), reminding their parents that there are consequences for every action. Newly moneyed by a thriving sex toy party business, Deedee has just persuaded best friend Ashley to host a party for their intellectual, artistic friends. Recently divorced, Deedee has not yet acclimated to her new role, drawn back to the easy comfort of ex-Zeke. Ashley is for the most part content with her station, although worried about the intense Lee, who, at seventeen, has just come out and his frequently sulky older sister, Peyton, both young adults acting out the bored ennui of their generation. The third member of this trio, who meet every Saturday for Happy Hour, is Vivienne, a successful local artist engaged in a mild flirtation with Zeke.

Slightly sophisticated, slightly urbane, the three friends navigate a comfortable social milieu, their assumptions unchallenged, save the occasionally raucous novelty sex parties of prim Omaha housewives. But like any city, anywhere, reality lurks just beneath the surface. Unfaithful husbands, an anonymous stalker who creates erotic collages of carefully chosen victims, habits of deception, general paranoia and an active gay community (complete wit colorful drag queens) belie the quiet façade of propriety. By the end of her sex toy party, Ashley comes face to face with the threat of a husband's affair, unable for once to deceive herself that her marriage is perfect. And Viv is wracked with guilt when she realizes Deedee isn't finished with Zeke; even the eccentric twenty-something twins, Peach and Plum, who own an eclectic bookstore, mermaid Singing, become a vital part of the night's turmoil as the entire cast collides at a swinger's party.

Filled with the uncertainties of modern life as the years eat away at the magic of youthful ideals, these unique characters, none of them mean-spirited or ill-intentioned, come to terms with the challenges they face, putting aside their cherished fairytale pretensions, succumbing to the practical demands of maturity. Written with a light hand and a subtle sense of humor by an author who sees deeply into the dark recesses of failed dreams, Devils in the Sugar Shop celebrates the absurdities of the human condition on a very personal scale, the capacity for forgiveness and the willingness to endure for the sake of those we love. While not every complaint or sorrow is resolved, the spirit of hope prevails, even in Omaha. Luan Gaines/2007.

This book is so fun you'll not want to put it down. You'll read it twice I promise!