Set in Alexandria, Virginia, during the turbulent summer of 1973, Don’t Drive Left Lane in Alexandria is a richly layered coming-of-age novel set against a transformative period in American history.

When a lineman is electrocuted during a violent thunderstorm, a wrongful death lawsuit intertwines the lives of two very different families. At the center is Cowboy Murphy, a rising senior at T.C. Williams High School navigating friendships, basketball, music, first love, and a rapidly changing America. Meanwhile, his mother, Brigid, holds onto hope that her son missing in Vietnam will return home.

Against a backdrop of Watergate, anti-war sentiment, feminism, racial tension, gas shortages, and 1970s rock and soul, the novel blends historical detail, family drama, friendship, romance, and nostalgia—a portrait of a city and a generation coming of age during uncertain times.