Is it possible to find love in the heart of the Midwest between a strip mall and a cornfield? This is the quest of three friends who meet in the 1980s at the Camelot Apartments, located amidst the suburban sprawl of the southern Indiana town of Lamasco.Frank, who moves from the East coast to Lamasco to start a market research firm, is a well-bred, charming, polished Ivy Leaguer with a penchant for classical music. Vicky, the noisy downstairs neighbor who is constantly trying to drown out Frank's classical music with rock and roll, is a tough-talking, whisky-guzzling, Harley-riding lady bartender from western Kentucky with a reckless spirit and a haunted past. Between Frank and Vicky is Allison, an image-conscious, self-improvement junkie who gives up a promising marketing career in Chicago to return to her hometown of Lamasco at the urging of her high school sweetheart and fiancé, with whom she has long since fallen out of love.An unlikely friendship forms between Allison and Vicky as they discover that underneath their very different veneers, they have many similarities, one of those being a secret passion for their neighbor, Frank.Odd Numbers spans twenty-plus years and ultimately culminates with the startling collision that reconnects this odd love triangle. “Touching, clever, and at times delightfully off the wall, Odd Numbers is a gulp of fresh air. Readers will be hard pressed to remain at arm’s length from Vicky, Allison, and Frank, because, after all, they are like us—flawed but hopeful.“Bernardin’s prose reminds me of Willa Cather, her descriptions elegant but not blustery or garish. Those among us who esteem a well-crafted sentence have a new wordsmith to add to our list of favorite writers. Odd Numbers is a finely crafted story of the human heart.”- Mike Whicker, author of the bestseller, Invitation to Valhalla and Blood of the Reich"An inspiring read, courageously honest and full of hope for all of the flawed...deeply thoughtful characters revealing inner virtues and vices, outward strengths and weaknesses, climaxing in a sublime symphony of charity." - Judy Lyden, author of PORK CHOPSAn unusual love story set in the Midwestern southern Indiana town of Lamasco, Odd Numbers is a poignantly witty story of love as three friends seek redemption, restoration, meaning, and belonging in a world of isolation.“In my line of work you’ve got to look out for the odd numbers…Hospitality is what’ it’s all about. A place where everybody feels welcome–no one’s left out…maybe we can make little places in the world where all are welcome, even the odd numbers.” – Excerpt from Odd NumbersAbout the AuthorM. Grace Bernardin majored in Communications and Religious Studies at the College of Mount Saint Joseph's and has a M.S. in Counseling from the University of Evansville. She has worked in Human Relations and Pastoral Care and she lives in Evansville, Indiana, with her husband, John, and their two sons.
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