Wilbur Avenue by Steven Manchester

Author:Steven Manchester
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fiction Studio Books
Published: 2015-05-15T13:11:54+00:00

The Rockin’ Chair

Memories are the ultimate contradiction. They can warm us on our coldest days – or they can freeze a loved one out of our lives forever. The McCarthy family has a trove of warm memories. Of innocent first kisses. Of sumptuous family meals. Of wondrous lessons learned at the foot of a rocking chair. But they also have had their share of icy ones. Of words that can never be unsaid. Of choices that can never be unmade. Of actions that can never be undone.

Following the death of his beloved wife, John McCarthy – Grandpa John – calls his family back home. It is time for them to face the memories they have made, both warm and cold. Only then can they move beyond them and into the future.

A rich portrait of a family at a crossroad, The Rockin’ Chair is Steven Manchester’s most heartfelt and emotionally engaging novel to date. If family matters to you, it is a story you must read.

A Note from the Author

When my first son, Evan, was born, it amazed me how he and my father hit it off. Unlike my dad’s tough approach with me and my brothers, he was gentle with my son. And to Evan, the old man walked on water. The entire thing got me thinking about the responsibilities and expectations of a father versus a grandfather, and how the roles can be at such polar opposites.

In The Rockin’ Chair—arguably one of my favorite tear jerkers—I created Grampa John, a compassionate farmer in the spirit of my late grandfather. I then created Hank, his estranged son, whose memories are not as rose-colored as his father’s. The rest—bitter feelings and things said that shouldn’t have been said—play out in a sequence of scenes that most fathers and sons can relate to.

Grampa John decides that before he can join his wife, Alice, in eternal rest, he must tend to a few final chores and heal his family. One by one, he guides his grandchildren through their healing process with the strength of his wisdom and unconditional love. And then he gets to Hank. As the clock ticks fast, John wonders if there’s enough time to prove that love has always existed when it has been masked for an entire lifetime.

The Rockin’ Chair—like our attitudes, either good or bad—is a legacy to be passed down from one generation to the next.

The novel’s excerpt brings the reader into the family’s great pain—the funeral of their beloved wife and mother, Alice. John is beside himself with grief until he feels a familiar nudge in the back. When he looks up, he sees his family—in all their brokenness—for the first time since his wife’s death.

The preacher had just finished his sermon when John drops to both knees and speaks to his wife. “I see now, squaw. Seems I still got some chores that need tendin’ to.” He places his lips to the frozen casket and kisses her. “You’re right, as usual. There’s some mendin’ to be done.

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