PR by the Book and the author sent me a copy of this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can buy a copy now.
When they get a phone call from a stranger telling them their mother has died, they both feel betrayed. She wasn't so far away she couldn't have called, written or visited with them. Why did she desert them so long ago? They aren't even sure if they should tell their father. He was the one who ran her off years ago. But they were still married even if he had other women after her departure. This sets the stage for a very strange story.
They remember bits and pieces of their time with her but not much. They've spent a lot of time forgetting. And now the wormhole has opened up in front of them again. If that's not strange enough, the woman said she wanted them to take Paul. They have no idea who Paul is. When they find out, it's worse. It's a parrot and she'd had it for twenty years. The parrot is mourning Millie. The men are jealous that it spent more with their mother than they did. The oldest one wants to get rid of it. The youngest is going to keep it.
The bird has secrets: Bits of their mom's memories and thoughts and speaks almost in her voice. Grinder listens and comes to his own conclusions about what happened so long ago. Their father shows up and he's found Jesus now. It's almost worse than when he was drunk all time. But he does share some insight on the death of the marriage. He doesn't remember it all but the boys do.
The parrot adds a bit of joy to the story but it's really a look at lost lives and how the boys who are men now need come to terms with what happened and move on. Grinder has a reason to smile now and I liked that.
This is not a happy book but the human emotions in it are real and it was a good family study on what we do to ourselves.
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