In 1960s Detroit, not everyone danced to Motown songs and protested the Vietnam War. Narrow Is the Way takes you inside a fictional church and school, Holy Apostles, where religion mixes with conservative politics in a disturbing way. The ensemble cast includes the firebrand pastor and his family; teachers at the small school; wealthy donors; and families who have come to Holy Apostles for redemption, for political solidarity, or for adherence to their ethnic heritage. The narrative explores the thoughts and experiences of many characters, but a particularly astute observer of the scene is Gwen Evans, who arrives at Holy Apostles in 1963, at the age of twelve, and graduates from the high school in the tumultuous year of 1968.

Woven into Narrow Is the Way are well-known historical characters who are driving forces behind the religious fundamentalism and conservative political extremism of the period. The members of Holy Apostles are disconnected from the cultural upheaval all around them, but they are not immune to the temptations of the flesh and of the purse. Their stories build to a devastating denouement. 

This second novel from Hazel Harzinger (author of 2018’s Adventures of a Girl Architect) is expected in 2023-2024.