Behind the Mask: New Upmarket Novel LOST IN A MASQUERADE Ponders the Cost of Hiding a Tortured Past

Creative advertising/marketing director shares alluring and enigmatic adman’s hopeful journey of self-discovery in a page-turning new book from Palmetto Publishing

Charleston, SC, May 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The challenging subjects of witnessing domestic violence and coping with repressed memories are at the heart of Jill Shtulman’s debut novel, “Lost in a Masquerade.”  The narrative revolves around an accomplished advertising man and the three women who love him.

The prevalent issue of abuse demands exploring: at least one-third of children are exposed to psychological or emotional domestic violence as well as physical aggression by one parent against the other, according to the Resource Center of Domestic Abuse. In a twist, Shtulman explores the sensitive subject not from the view of a female character but from that of a successful and self-doubting male.

Lending credibility to her male protagonist, Shtulman draws from thirty-five years of experience as an advertising and marketing creative director and secondhand knowledge of childhood trauma. Brimming with psychological insights, meticulously researched, and authentic to its New York City circa 1980s setting (with some scenes in Phoenix and Las Vegas), the book examines how feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt can lead to imposter syndrome. “This book is really a deep dive into the masks we wear to hide our vulnerabilities,” Shtulman says.

Written as a boldly hopeful story of self-discovery, “Lost in a Masquerade” tells the story of Danny Monahan, a rising star at a top Madison Avenue advertising firm whose life begins to spin out of control after years of burying childhood trauma. With the birth of his son and the pressure on his marriage mounting, he is desperate to keep up the act but instead falls into the arms of a beautiful but similarly self-protective sales rep he meets in the boardroom. Torn between a love affair and the complexities of his role as a husband and father, Danny remains in denial, lost in a masquerade of his own making until the day he meets an insightful client.

Narrated by Danny and the women who love him – his faithful wife, who strives to reinvent and save him; his lover, who adores him but can’t break down his walls; and his client, who sees beyond the carefully engineered façade – the story weaves the negative impact of a dysfunctional and abusive family with the restorative power of love, as Danny confronts his past and sheds his outer defenses like a Matryoshka doll. Appealing to book clubs and readers who love plot twists, Shtulman unveils a protagonist worth rooting for.

“Lost in a Masquerade” is available for purchase on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

About the Author:

Jill Shtulman is a former Vice President/Associate Creative Director at Rapp Collins. She is the founder of JSA Creative Services, a marketing and communications business serving an array of nationally recognized clients for over three decades. She has attended the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and the Aspen Writers Workshop. She resides in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, Leigh Page, a particularly energetic mini goldendoodle named Josie, and two spirited cats.

Media Contact: Jill Shtulman

Jsacreative415@gmail.com 

Available for interviews: Author, Jill Shtulman

Attachment

• Lost in a Masquerade

CONTACT: Leah Joseph
Palmetto Publishing
publicity@palmettopublishing.com