It's 1925, and the Harlem Renaissance has expanded to cities beyond New York. Black writers, musicians, and artists are in vogue and think they can do anything. Nora Johnson, a honey yellow-skinned Howard University instructor, is no exception. Desiring to become a professional painter, Nora travels to Paris, France, to study art for a year. While in Paris, she throws caution into the Seine River and heads towards self destruction. Rather than play it safe with Douglas Stills, a hotel doorman who wants to be closer to her, Nora befriends Dianne, an Afro-English student who lives by her own rules. Then Nora speeds ahead in an affair with Vernon Cooper, a gorgeous chocolate-hued jazz trumpet player full of secrets and lies. For going against her upper middle class upbringing and her gut instincts, Nora pays a high price. A story of passion and loss, loyalty and betrayal, ruthless abuse and redeeming love, "Forbidden Circles" captures a unique time and an enchanting city, and then treats the reader to a riveting conclusion.