Epistolary

Love bomb. Devalue. Discard. It is the mantra of the Narcissist, but also a pattern of American society. Mandy Hood exchanges letters with her father while describing her life as a camp counselor in one of the greatest national parks of America - The Grand Canyon. It is here she re-encounters Gilbert DeRoquedu, whom she had known previously in high school. With girlish zeal, Mandy pens the breathtaking scenery and the foibles of counselor life until it comes to an inauspicious end for her. Faced with new challenges, Mandy then shifts her letter-writing to Gil until her family’s crises put a halt to it. After thirty years of separation, a more mature Mandy and Gil chance to see one another again in South Central Pennsylvania and pick up where they left off. Despite having married other people, they begin to express their romantic feelings for one another in addition to descriptions of her newfound motherhood and his expertise in Classical antiquity. Through emails and shared files their epistolary relationship heats up until it explodes in a fiery passion. However, Mandy’s love affair costs her in ways she cannot fathom, until it is entirely too late. In the aftermath of Mandy and Gil's tragedy, the community of South Central Pennsylvania, and ultimately, America at large, grapple with having love bombed, devalued, and discarded segments of its own population.