The year is 1984. A widower, Dr. Luke Osborn works as an ophthalmologist specializing in retinal surgery for the new Eye Institute. It’s a privilege for a new doctor to be apart of mingling with the ultra-rich whose generous donations created this new facility, but Luke feels like he doesn’t belong. He has never had so much money or experienced extravagance.

This new institute is AJ MacNeil’s dream project as the institute’s leader. Naturally, in this event, his wife, Agnes, as well as his adult daughters, Lucy and clever Elizabeth do so. Strangely, the two daughters are very different. Lucy is a skinny, drunk and angry brunette lawyer. By contrast, Elizabeth, a teacher, is fair complexioned, a bit overweight, sober and personable.

In one of her first conversations with Lucy, she complained about the eye surgery: “It’s not just the mistakes that bother me, it’s the cover-ups.” Would you like to talk to her if you had her eyes operated on?

At the party, Luke is offered the position of director of clinical research. He is hesitant to accept this position as he sees himself as a surgeon, not an administrator.

As he leaves the party, Luke is in shock. His vehicle is dismantled. Missing tires, wheels, bumpers, mirrors and radio. How will he get to his house, which is two and a half hours away?

Lucy agrees to take him home. She is slightly drunk and drives her expensive sports car erratically and too fast. They swerve to avoid a dog, hit a pothole, and crash into a tree. Luke and Lucy searched for what caused the crash, but found nothing.

The next day, the body of a woman is found. She turns out to be the wife of a judge. Since she died of blunt trauma. Since the police were not called, the logical conclusion is that Lucy was probably drunk and is being charged with vehicular manslaughter.

Lucy needs Luke to convince the grand jury that she wasn’t intoxicated while driving to Luke’s. This is how their relationship begins and quickly evolves until the two are privately married by a justice of the peace. Did she marry him for love or to control her testimony? Or does Luke marry the boss’s daughter to advance his career?

Luke comes from a family where his father was dominant, his mother was passive, and he has five siblings. He is a bit skeptical to start this relationship since his first wife committed suicide. However, he allows Lucy to quickly take the lead in her marriage.

As a lawyer, Lucy finds herself on a case defending a television evangelist from the Apostolic Church of Christ accused of child rape. Hower Bain is on video surveillance of being alone with the girl. How can anyone defend him?

Hower is separated from his wife, son, and daughter. He claims this is due to his differences in faith. Could it be that he is unfaithful?

This case requires Lucy to travel and spend a lot of time away from Luke.

Lucy becomes pregnant and gives birth to Jennifer prematurely, who weighs less than three pounds. With two prestigious professional careers, they decide to hire a nanny to take care of her daughter.

However, caring for Hower Bain seems to be more of a time commitment than a newborn. He is demanding, rebellious, sets his own rules that don’t help, such as against the advice of his lawyer, giving a five-minute TV interview. Or is there something else going on with his commitment to the case?

Luke has his own challenges. Sandra Pérez has been fired as an intern. Luke’s colleague, Modesto Sanchez, was ordered to give him a bad evaluation. Sandra had apparently seen Luke’s father-in-law, AJ, cause harm to a patient, blinding him completely, by performing surgery on the wrong eye. He believes Sandra. How does someone confront his boss and father-in-law who demands loyalty, even if he is wrong?

The Spirit of Want is an event-based account of Lucy and Luke. The pace is extremely fast and the book covers several years. A hidden gem within the story is the artwork that reflects the story created by Betty Harper.

Do some people use others only while receiving benefits from the relationship? How do you continue if you are the one who gives or the one who receives? Or can each of us be both at the same time or does it depend on each relationship?

As a former ophthalmic surgeon, he understands his subject. The Salt Lake City, Utah resident has won numerous awards and nominations in the Sandhill Writers’ Competition, the SEAK Competition, the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, and the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction.

Read The Spirit of Necessity for the answers.