After losing her husband to leukemia, Gloria Burgess vows not to fall apart, for her own sake and that of her young son. Yet, despite her bravest efforts, Gloria will be swept up in a remarkable rite of passage. It will plunge her into a shattering exploration of her parent's unfulfilled marriage, entwine her destiny with the life of a passionate artist, and ultimately force her into an utter reinvention of herself, transmuting her grief and anger into love and forgiveness.

Not that age should matter in the grand scheme of things, but Jenn Crowell was barely 18 when she sold this first novel to her publishers. Unlike much fiction by very young people, however, Necessary Madness does not trade on hipness, teenage angst or underage promiscuity. The novel is the story of 30-year-old Gloria Burgess coming to grips with the premature death from cancer of a beloved husband. Kirkus Reviews hailed Necessary Madness (set in England, though Crowell is American) for its fully developed characters and maturity of content.

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