<p>At fourteen, Kit St. Denys brought down his abusive father with a knife. At twenty-one his theatrical genius brought down the house. At thirty, his past-and his forbidden love-nearly brought down the curtain for good. This is a compelling Victorian saga of two men whose love for each other transcends time and distance-and the society that considers it an abomination. Set in the last twenty years of the 19th century, <em>The Phoenix </em>is a multi-layered historical novel that illuminates poverty and child abuse, theatre history in America and England, betrayal, a crisis of conscience, violence and vengeance, and the treatment of insanity at a time when such treatment was in its infant stage. Most of all it is a tale of love on many levels, from carnal to devoted friendship to sacrifice.</p>