When Shadows Fell

When Shadows Fell is a probing exploration of a young American woman's struggles to express her ideals by joining the Communist Party, at a time it was dangerous to do so, in the early 1950s at the height of McCarthyism. Inspired by the author's experience as a grass roots Communist in Los Angeles, the story brings the reader into intimate contact with the inner life of the Party. Interlaced with this main theme are is the rising crescendo of the main character, Zelda's, conflicts with a virulently anti-Communist father and secretive husband. During her six years in the Party, Zelda gains strength and confidence, but her certainty that she's taking part in reshaping the world explodes after the Soviet Party's 20th Congress when Khrushchev reveals Stalin's brutalities and expose the Party's knowing silence. A devastated Zelda struggles to find a political identity in a world suddenly stripped of familiar signposts.