THE MASON LIST
GENRE
ROMANCE DRAMA
Core Theme
FORBIDDEN LOVE
TIME PERIOD
Contemporary
COMPARABLE TITLES
SHARP OBJECTS, THE NOTEBOOK, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
CHARACTER LIST
• ALEX TANNER: 20s, STRONG, DETERMINED, TOMBOY
• JESS MASON: 20s, ALEX’S BEST FRIEND, LOVING, STRONG, PATIENT
Logline
A story that spans years about a woman who has always felt she’s owed a family for all the good deeds they did for her and her father, so when she falls in love with their son, the last thing she wants to do is take him as well.
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34
Target Gender: Female leaning
Setting
OKLAHOMA
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: self-published
Year Published: 2015
Starting Description
Alex bonds with the youngest of the Masons, a little boy named Jess, who senses Alex needs a friend and offers her support and a ray of light during Alex’s darkest days. Their bond deepens as the years pass and they grow from children into young adults, but Alex never lets Jess get too close.
Ending Description
The story follows Alex and Jess into their late twenties and all the different stages and struggles of their decades-long relationship until they fall in love and work toward their happy ending.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
Information not completed
Mature Audience Themes
Nudity
Plot - Other Elements
Coming of Age, Happy Ending
Plot - Premise
Rebellion Against 'The One'
Main Character Details
Name: ALEX
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Decisive, Desperate, Honorable, Adventurous, Blunt, Insecure, Naive, Strong Moral Code, Empathetic, Faithful
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Brief
A disadvantaged young girl grows to resent her benefactors -- and resists moving forward with a relationship after she falls in love with their son.
What We Liked
- Strong female lead;
- Romantic;
- Female oriented, but still rugged enough for a more broad audience;
- Awards potential;
- The structure that goes from present day to reminiscence of the past adds to the
drama;
- The strong character driven story and compelling relationships put forth sets this
story apart;
- Sweeping epic feel to the project that would have broad appeal.
Synopsis
Alex is a red-headed 8 year-old girl living happily in a small house with a beautiful garden. She is the only child of her loving parents, Anna and Henry Tanner. Her world is turned upside down when Anna gets ovarian cancer and quickly becomes terminal. Henry loses his job while taking time off to care for Anna. As medical costs mount, Henry and Alex find themselves homeless and living in their truck outside the hospital where Anna is being treated.
Anna’s doctor, Mr. Mason, sees Henry and Alex’s hardship, and he and his wife, Mrs. Mason, step in to give them a hand. The Masons have a dark haired blue-eyed son called Jess who is Alex’s age. Jess and Alex quickly become best friends and are inseparable through their shared childhood. The Masons pay for everything in Alex’s life, including her clothes, room and board, Christmas presents and even special art lessons. She is ashamed and grows to resent the family. She starts to keep a list of everything the Masons have done for her and her father so she can pay them back one day.
Alex and Jess fall in love, but Alex is hesitant to accept this. She doesn’t want to take Jess away from the Masons so their love goes unrequited. Upon graduating from college, Alex leaves for Paris to pursue art, leaving Jess behind to run the Mason’s ranch. When she comes home for her father’s wedding to his new wife, Caroline, Alex finally realizes that she and Jess belong together. They are married and expecting a child when Jess is in a catastrophic horse riding accident. Alex nurses him back to health and they live happily ever after.