Father's Day
Author(s): Simon Van Booy
When devastating news shatters the life of six-year-old Harvey, she finds herself in the care of a veteran social worker, Wanda, and alone in the world save for one relative she has never meta disabled felon, haunted by a violent past he can't escape.
Moving between past and present,Fathers Dayweaves together the story of Harveys childhood on Long Island and her life as a young woman in Paris.Written in raw, spare prose that personifies the characters,this novel is the journeyof two people searching for a future in the ruin of their past.
Father's Dayis a meditation on the quiet, sublime power of compassion, and the beauty of simple, everyday things--abreakthrough work from one of our most gifted chroniclers of the human heart.
Review(s):
In this novel, Van Booy is at his most poignant, showing how redemption can arise from heartbreaking circumstances.
Theres so much to enjoy along the way, from Mr. Van Booys muted lyricism to the profusion of quiet domestic moments rendered in the strangely captivating way of Andre Dubus.
In
Fathers Day, Van Booy again deftly demonstrates that he is a master at the craft of storytelling.
Moving, redemptive new novel...The third-person narrative gives both characters their own, distinctive voices that nonetheless change over time. Van Booy creates refreshing, humorous, yet poignant childhood milestones that the two reach with emotional honesty.
Van Booys great triumph comes in using a family secret to underscore the message that family is as much a choice as a blood tie. Although any reader will find something to love here, someone who has benefited from a perfectly imperfect family will wear the widest smile. This little book with a big heart is suitable not just for Fathers Day, but for any day.
[Van Booys] facility with word choice and sentence structure can leave a reader swooning...[a] movingly understated drama punctuated with moments of quiet reflection.
The moving account of a unique relationship between a parent and child, thrust together under the worst of circumstances. With fine, nuanced prose and much tenderness, Booy guides this unlikely father-daughter pair into a beautiful maturity, showing us with great heart what it really means to be a family.
ISBN:9780062408945
