All the best families send their sons to The Hallsley School, a prep school regarded as one of the finest day schools in the country. So what do you do if you suspect the school’s hockey coach is demanding sexual favors in exchange for ice time, but that everyone, including your son, tells you that you’re insane for suggesting such a possibility? We all know that sort of thing only happens in parochial or inner‑city schools.When her son Danny refuses to leave Hallsley, Lisa Mackenzie ignores growing isolation, continuing her crusade to prove her son’s coach is a serial predator. Fearing the impact of a scandal, Hallsley administrators close ranks, denying Lisa’s allegations and making plans to force Danny out of the school.
Terrified someone will uncover his darkest secret, Danny embarks on an overboard body‑building regimen, believing the coach -- once a trusted mentor and confidante -- will reinstate him on the team and forgive him for ending their friendship. After a drunken New Year’s Eve brawl, Danny and his closest friends admit to one another they have all been abused by the coach. Overwhelmed with fear, the boys swear an oath to guard their shameful secret ‘til the day they die. Prom night culminates in the suicide of one boy and Danny’s arrest for attempted murder.
Told in third person narrative with a POV that alternates between mother and son, ‘Til the Day We Die: Secrets of an All-Boys’ Prep School (90,000 words/commercial literary fiction) is the story of the devastating impact of abuse and cover-up on three good boys and their upper-middle class families. The story is supported by meticulous research, including innumerable consultations with a child psychologist, clandestine interviews (with parents of alleged victims) and sessions with the FBI.
