WELCOME HOME, CAROLINE KLINE

A 29-year-old woman born on the Jersey Shore returns home when her plans fall apart, experiencing sobriety and finding a new path forward.

Caroline Kline has—had—it made. A dream job at a marketing agency, a perfect boyfriend, a successful, long-dreamed-about life in Manhattan. And on the cusp of making the next big step by moving to Los Angeles with Ben, it all came crashing down. After training her replacement at work, she heads to a celebratory dinner with Ben only to have him dump her. She’s already given up her apartment, so she’s sleeping on a friend’s couch and racing through her savings when she gets a call from her stepmother saying her father has taken a bad fall and wants her to come home and replace him on his softball team. Though the team is made up only of men, Caroline doesn’t feel like she has a choice. She goes home and starts playing softball—and much drama ensues from her old-school teammates. After a night out with one of them, she finds herself with a DUI and a requirement to attend a six-week-long court-mandated education program, where she reconnects with Crispin Davis, her high school crush, who’s also just joined the program. What follows is a blow-by-blow account of the softball team’s quest to make it to the World Series, Caroline’s experience with sobriety, and the increasing amount of time she spends with Crispin. The story doesn’t dig into why Caroline might want to seek sobriety for herself rather than as a means to spend more time with Crispin. The focus is on the events that happen around, to, and because of Caroline, not the reasons behind her choices.

A drawn-out rendition of a woman’s experience playing on her father’s softball team.