The Inheritance of Beauty

Maggie Black Came of Age in the lush, fragrant lowcountry of South Carolina---spending her days with her beloved brother and the boy she would grow up to marry. But when a stranger arrived one summer, Maggie couldn't imagine the evil he would bring with him. And though she escaped with her life, the ramifications of that fateful summer would alter all of their lives forever.

Now, some eighty years later, Maggie and her husband George are spending their remaining days in a nursing home, helpless as age slowly robs Maggie of her ability to communicate. When a mysterious package arrives, followed closely by a stranger whose identity haunts them. Maggie and George are hemmed in by a history they'd rather forget.

As the truth reveals itself, George knows he must face the past and its lifetime of repercussions. It's the only way to free himself and his precious wife---if it's not too late.

The Inheritance of Beauty is a rich and enchanting story about age and the ability of true beauty to transcend one's life.

"Keltner's book is highly original, insightful, and promises to change the way scholars have traditionally fond Kristova's work." Kelly Oliver, Vanderbilt University

"The book represents an engaging and original interpretation of the entire spectrum of Kristeva's work, including her often overlooked fiction. There are real gems in this manuscript, in particular a terrific and highly original interpretation of Kristeva's theory of intimacy, Oedipus, temporality, as well as of the phenomenological and ontological dimensions of her work, often disregarded by her interpreters. In short, Kristeva: Thresholds is a remarkable intellectual achievement." Ewa Ziarek, University at Buffalo

"Keltner deftly demonstrates how Kristeva extends phenomenological insights in radically new directions. Her fresh, probing analysis decisively tackles the social and historical significance of Kristeva's Freudian and aesthetic standpoint. A tour de force of Kristeva's highly faceted portrait of Oedipus supports Keltner's excellent and timely elucidation of `intimate revolt.'" Sara Beardsworth, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, author of Julia Kristeva: Psychoanalysis and Modernity