Book excerpt: Mara Brandine is a young woman who moves between the worlds of Academia and Pentecostalia almost breathlessly, until a professor charges her with exploring her "shadow subordinate", a side of herself that is darker than the politeness that pervades her life. This is a charge that goes against Mara's religious upbringing, but plays into her anger at the church's rampant hypocrisy. Armed with nothing but a sharp wit, imagination and a few close friends, Mara must navigate the now-murky waters of self-realization without embodying the meaning of her name. This task becomes all the more difficult when one especially greasy 'lady' takes interest in one of the church bachelors.