Unstitched takes aim at bystanderism.
 
The opioid epidemic has hit people in communities large and small and across all socio-economic classes. What should each of us know about it, and do about it?

A stranger, rumored to be a heroin addict repeatedly breaks into the small-town library Stanciu runs. After she tries to get law enforcement to do something about it -- the elementary school children and young parents with babies frequent the place after all -- he commits suicide. When she realizes how little she knows about opioid abuse, she sets out on a mission, seeking insight from others:
  •  people in recovery
  •  treatment providers
  •  the town police chief
  •  Vermont's US attorney
Unstitched portrays the complexity of interpersonal relationships thrown into relief against the overarching question of why do we recoil from those struggling with addiction rather than reach out?
 
With a heightened sense of both empathy and fear because of her own struggles with alcoholism and a mother's desire to protect her daughters, Stanciu is determined to learn more about the nature of addiction and what each of us can do in our own communities to stem the opioid epidemic and stitch them back together. Stanciu's quest forces her to see her small town, and herself, in unexpected ways. Her page-turning book will enable others to do the same.

Librarian Brett Ann Stanciu is a graduate of Marlboro College and recipient of a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant. Her 2015 novel Hidden View portrays the challenges of a hardscrabble family farm. She lives in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont with her family.