Calling Out

After Jane is dumped by her boyfriend, she quits her job in Manhattan, drives west, and lands in Salt Lake City, where she takes a job answering phones at a Mormon-frequented escort agency. As Jane struggles to find companionship and purpose in her new surroundings, she mothers the escorts and flirts with the callers. But the pull of mystery and danger is too great, and when boundaries begin to blur, she inches toward a place that would have once been unthinkable: she becomes an escort. Shifting between self-doubt and confidence, uncertainty and sheer adrenaline, Jane descends into the lonely world of sexual commerce and discovers through her bad behaviour a new sense of self. In this smart, sexy debut, Rae Meadows brings us an absorbing story of a young woman coming to terms with a life she hadn’t planned. With its convincing, atmospheric prose this novel captures both the landscape and politics of Utah, illuminates the ironies of America’s heartland, and reminds us that clarity and community can be found in the most unlikely places.