L2L Judy Fogarty

Judy Fogarty, Breaking and Holding

Breaking and Holding begins in the Summer of 1978 and is set primarily on Kiawah Island near Charleston, South Carolina. The novel tells the story of two women: young housewife Patricia Cullen and single and career-driven Lynn Hewitt, who have formed a friendship because of their connection through Patricia’s husband, Jack.

For Patricia, the summer begins with a devastating discovery: an unfamiliar black pearl button in the bed she shares with her controlling husband. Seeking the courage to end her desolate marriage, she flees to Kiawah to spend some time alone. But when she meets Terry Sloan, a collegiate tennis player trying to go pro, their physical attraction sparks a slow burn toward obsession. Once Patricia and Terry share closely guarded secrets from their pasts, they want more than a summer together. But their love soon fractures, as a potential sponsor takes an unusually keen interest in Terry—both on court and off. And when Lynn arrives to provide a watchful eye over Patricia, other secrets surface, including the one Patricia has kept from Terry all summer.

An intimate portrait of the folly of the human heart, Breaking and Holding speaks to fundamental issues, such as love, friendship, relationships, finding one’s own voice, and (of course) tennis.

Judy Fogarty earned a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Illinois, and she has enjoyed a long career as a marketer of private golf communities, including The Landings on Skidaway Island. Her début novel, Breaking and Holding, was published in 2016, and she has just completed her second novel, which is titled Moon. A native Savannahian, she lives, writes, reads, and runs on the Isle of Hope and is a devoted—and even rowdy—tennis fan. Judy Fogarty also is a member of the writing group True Lit, and she has spoken about her roles and experiences with this group in a prior episode of Listening to Literature.