Set in Southwest Virginia and Washington, D.C. during the 1960s through '80s, The Edification of Sissy Dare by Debra A. Copeland is the stunning story of one remarkable woman's transformation. Sissy Dare meets and falls for Aaron, a young paraplegic, when she's just a girl, but that love will follow and transform her up until she approaches her 40th year. Devastated when he chooses another, she finds solace with a strong feminist friend and years later is finally able to marry Aaron herself. But marriage is not what she expects. Aaron's world is rarified and filled with self-important people who care more about money and status than they do about other people. As tensions build, Sissy spirals into a deep depression until she begins to figure out just what it is in life that she really wants. Gorgeously written and told with warmth and insight, The Edification of Sissy Dare is a uniquely American story with universal themes which examines love, hate, patriarchy and feminism, in a distinctly original way. "The fulfillment of one's purpose in life, one's dream, is not a burden to be laid upon another, but a power resting solely within oneself," says Copeland, and in this wise and winsome novel, readers might find their own unique edification.