The Society of Shame

Kathleen Held is not running for office—her husband, Bill, is a candidate for Senate. Kathleen is a writer at heart, editor in practice, fully in the throes of perimenopause, campaign support and advanced teen daughter mothering. But when the single most chaotic moment in her life is captured and disseminated to the social media universe, it’s Kathleen who becomes the focus of attention. While the moment captures Bill simultaneously burning down the garage (accidentally) and cheating on her with a campaign staffer (not accidentally), it also digitally records for all time a blot on Kathleen’s name: she has her period. It leaked. In the following social media uproar(s) and hashtag activism #YesWeBleed, Kathleen learns to find her way, her people, her identity, and her relationship to her newly, suddenly, reconfigured family. An intercepted invitation to a secret society intended to rehabilitate the reputations of cancelled public figures gives her a different perspective on her situation.