Love and Second Acts - A Novel Lewis J. Stadlen 368 pages 6x9 size ISBN 9798905350559 paperback ISBN 9798905350566 hardback Joseph Solomon, a retired actor of rarefied fame, who has taught at a prestigious acting conservatory in North Carolina, is contacted by his most talented acting student who he has not heard from in twenty-four years. "Remember me?" arrives a text from out of the blue. "I am acting again. I will be performing at the Flint (Michigan) Repertory Theatre. Please come and see me. I will pay for your hotel. Love.... Alexandra McGuffey. Intrigued, Joseph Solomon takes a memorable seven-hundred mile road trip to a city notorious for its corporate maleficence and poisoned water supply. Upon his arrival he is delighted to be reunited with his three favorite acting students who have made the trip from as far as Brooklyn, Miami and Whitby, England. All of whom have long abandoned their passionate dream of setting the American theatre on fire. Becca Kaplan, a recent cancer surviver who has been recuperating at the Palm Island, Miami home of her celebrity, TV journalist mother, Sheila Turang. Lilli Brown, an admissions nurse at Coney Island Hospital. Unhappily married to an ambitious writer on Saturday Night Live. Mother of two children ages seven and eleven. Kate Brodie, a world-class English novelist suffering an extended period of writers block in North Yorkshire. All three woman suffering the complexities of encroaching middle-age. The TV journalist and the retired actor contemplating the final chapter of their lives. LEWIS J STADLEN is the author of two acclaimed theatrical memoir's, ACTING FOOLISH and SAVE ME A SEAT, On the Road with Hello Dolly! He has performed in fourteen Broadway shows including, The Producers, The Sunshine Boys, The Front Page, The Nance, Fish in the Dark, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Minnie's Boys and has been nominated for Tony Awards for Candide and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He has taught acting at the Stella Adler Studio and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He lives in New York City. Cover illustration by Laurence Maslon