Connections

When their beloved pets are threatened, a group of ordinary New Yorkers find surprising new connections.

Contrary to the dazzling wealth, glitz and glamour portrayed in the media, the Upper East Side of Manhattan is not only glass penthouses, hedge fund managers, and $500 dinners.

There are also ordinary side streets where hard-working singles rent, where roommates split expenses, where elderly women live orderly lives. For many of them, home means a loving animal, the steadfast presence that shares a life, hears a secret, heals a hurt, claims the heart.

That’s how it is for long-term resident Rosa Bassetti. There is no better friend than Princess, her arthritic Poodle. Rosa’s neighbor, Eileen Hargan, feels the same about Fibber McGee, her little Boston Terrier. Strangers at first, the two senior citizens become friends as they meet while walking their dogs, come sun, rain, or snow.

Their peaceful routine is shattered when Eileen receives an anonymous note demanding money, threatening to kidnap or hurt her dog if she doesn’t pay. A dangerous criminal? Cruel prankster? Rosa is determined to find out.

Played out against Manhattan’s aging brownstones, tree-lined streets and pre-war buildings, Connections brings together an intriguing cast of New Yorkers—a same-sex couple, a tough social worker finding love, a troubled boy, a lonely office manager—who all come together through their love for animals, and join forces against a terrifying menace.

A series of snapshots into a New York City neighborhood whose four-legged loved ones play a pivotal role in the family and relationship turmoil lurking within each apartment, Connections is a reminder that the most vulnerable creatures on earth are often our sources of strength.

Jacqueline Wein enjoyed a long and hectic career in a New York City advertising agency and its several incarnations. She edited copy, served as proofreader and unassailable office grammarian, organized forums for professional organizations, and edited two business books for their authors. Outside the office, she wrote a book of her own, Roommate, a suspense novel published by Crown.

Now retired, Jacqueline has written a story about another kind of roommate . . . the animals who share our lives, bond with us in intense, intimate ways, and nudge us into relationships.

The beloved dog who took her into the streets, shops, and sidewalk gossip exchanges of her Manhattan neighborhood many years ago gave her some background for this book.

She now splits her time between New York City and Florida, accompanied by her beautiful cat Asia.