The Best Sort of Day

The near future. The country is in turmoil, and abortion is illegal. Pregnant, 16-year-old Kelsey appeals to police sergeant Joy Banta for help. Joy knows Kelsey only slightly, and the sentence for assisting is harsh, but she agrees. The simple solutions don’t work out. A bungled abortion procedure leaves Kelsey with a dangerous infection. Treating it without reporting its cause is a criminal act. And the secret can’t be kept for longpeople guess, or are on the point of guessing. Kelsey’s father, Captain Downing—Joy’s difficult boss—gradually figures out what is going on. Whichever way he turns he faces imprisonment, the ruin of his career, and the loss of his daughter, while Joy is drawn deeper and deeper into the muddle. A poignant story.