Kathleen Burke

The Tinker and the Gentleman Kathleen Burke

With a voice born of Irish shores, Klee Walsh eases hearts into a reverent stillness. The Parisian agent, Evan de Roche, orchestrates her success. Wealth and fame follow, which should suffice. Yet, Klee's orphan status engenders an unsettling sense of self, and threatens her authentic quest. Evan, too, is challenged either to follow his artistic inclinations or the demands of his traditionally-inclined wealthy family. From high society Paris to coastal Ireland to the shores of Cape Cod, they merry-go-round with A-listers, luxury living, and top-of-the-charts hits. Evan tries to tolerate his protégée's disrupting desire to figure her origins at the same time he grapples with the pending downfall of his own family's conglomerate. The catalyst appears in the person of Laurence Mallord, the sea-loving American filmmaker who steals Evan's heart, triggering the discovery of a past that links all three.

This romantic family saga from 1950 to 1980 examines a classic theme of fortune's playbook pitted against integrity's calming force. Evan, Klee and Laurence represent youthful urgency as the world bows to material forces on an international scale. Does artistic protocol formulate love's messaging or will technology and greed induce a lesser form of human experience?