Act I of The Island of Always
A novel by Stephen Evans
Nick is charming. Erratic. Brilliant. Quixotic. And possibly Delusional.
His passion for environmental and animal rights constantly gets him in trouble. And his ex-wife and former law partner Lena inevitably comes to his rescue.
But when he ‘liberates’ the lobsters from Minneapolis grocery stores and loads them into the mayor’s pool, the ensuing media event goes one step too far. While Lena fights to save Nick from being committed or going to prison, her hopes for a normal life are left dangling.
And when the man she still loves has one more wild idea, Lena has a choice to make.
The Marriage of True Minds, Stephen Evan’s debut novel, was originally published by Unbridled Books in 2008. This reissued edition contains the revised text used in The Island of Always.
ISBN: 978-1-953725-08-0
Order the Book:
Your favorite local bookstore
Bookshop.Org
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
What the Critics are Saying:
“Stephen Evans’ first novel, The Marriage of True Minds, is a funny, poignant, oddly beautiful book about three divergent life forms—animals, people, and lawyers. You will love it if you read it with a true mind.”
—Kinky Friedman
“Poignant and outrageous, moving and profound, Evans’ delectable debut novel thrums with zesty dialogue and a memorably zany cast of irresistible characters.”
—Booklist
“Evans demonstrates his playwright’s mastery of dialogue and tension in his accomplished and whimsical first novel about love and the bizarre behavior it ignites.”
—Publishers Weekly
Excerpt:
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
June 11
Local barrister Nicholas Ward was arrested yesterday for releasing more than 100 live lobsters into the indoor pool at the mayor’s mansion in Minneapolis.
Mr. Ward, formerly a prominent environmental attorney and founding partner of the local firm Ward and Grant, allegedly persuaded 12 Minneapolis grocery stores to donate the lobsters by claiming that the crustaceans were the rightful property of endangered Hawaiian monk seals. The seals, Mr. Ward reportedly explained, are currently on the endangered species list because humans are stealing their lobsters.
At Mr. Ward’s request, Department of Public Works employees filled the mayor’s pool with non-chlorinated saltwater and more than 100 blocks of ice. Unnamed sources at the department confirmed that Mr. Ward convinced them the mayor was having a beach party. The ice, he claimed, represented the effects of global warming on arctic populations.
Once the lobsters were safely deposited in the mayor’s pool, Mr. Ward summoned the media. During the ensuing lecture, he defended his actions by citing at length numerous obscure judicial precedents. He then made his getaway in a chauffeured stretch limousine, accompanied by a gray-and-white sheepdog puppet.
No charges have been filed, pending a psychiatric evaluation.
