What We Remember
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Product Description
James McCloud, a Seattle district attorney, gets an early-morning phone call from his sister Celeste announcing that their father's body has been found. Police officer Daniel McCloud disappeared years ago - but this discovery proves that he was murdered. When James returns home to Cold Falls, New York, he's reunited with his mother Ada and his troubled, gay younger brother Billy. His brother-in-law Nate is the town sheriff, and the mistrust that has hovered between them since school still simmers, and as the truth emerges, so do powerful secrets.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A bleak story of animosities and buried secrets, and the power of memory to influence a family's life, What We Remember examines the lives of the McCloud family. It is 1991 and the body of the Daniel McCloud has been found after he suddenly vanished back eight years previously, and leaving behind a suicide note telling his wife Ada he had cancer. Ada is understandably shattered at the discovery, along with her three children James, Celeste, and the youngest child Billy.
For years the family have tried to navigate the roads of temperance, while James has left the area and moved on and now lives with his girlfriend Charly, Celeste has adopted a more conventional life in Cold Falls, mothering two children and marrying Nate Derry, the cocky town sheriff who has long-buried ties to the McClouds. Only Billy seems to be drifting, his shattered life marred by substance abuse, but it is perhaps Billy who holds the key to what happened to his father.
While Nate constantly reminds Billy of his shortcomings and resents his sexuality, nonetheless, it is also Nate who accuses James of murdering his father when a bejeweled ring that once belonged to James is discovered with the body. When Charly comes to Cold Falls to help prove James' innocence, Michael Thomas Ford adds layer upon layer of drama to this story as Charly's investigations causes a dark secret to unfurl and the revelation that Nancy, a childhood friend of the boys, was secretly sent away to Maine after she was discovered to be pregnant.
Ford beautifully balances the tender scenes of family intimacy, particularly Ada and her determination to keep her children safe from the preying eyes of the past, with the wider mystery as his novel accelerates forwards, and allegations of rape reinforce the unsaid tension between Nate and James and Billy. It is these implicit animosities, long built up that have their seed in the tragic events of 1982. The mystery behind Daniel's death is finally revealed and in the process his family learn some painful insights, along with all of the angst that must come with the demands of family and the need to belong.
What We Remember signifies Ford's maturing as a writer and he perfectly captures the hormone-driven frustrations of a generation of teenagers as they're thrust amid the uniquely the stifling mores of suburbia, and also the complicated layers of family and friendship that are eventually torn apart by the endless passage of time. Mike Leonard May 09.
For years the family have tried to navigate the roads of temperance, while James has left the area and moved on and now lives with his girlfriend Charly, Celeste has adopted a more conventional life in Cold Falls, mothering two children and marrying Nate Derry, the cocky town sheriff who has long-buried ties to the McClouds. Only Billy seems to be drifting, his shattered life marred by substance abuse, but it is perhaps Billy who holds the key to what happened to his father.
While Nate constantly reminds Billy of his shortcomings and resents his sexuality, nonetheless, it is also Nate who accuses James of murdering his father when a bejeweled ring that once belonged to James is discovered with the body. When Charly comes to Cold Falls to help prove James' innocence, Michael Thomas Ford adds layer upon layer of drama to this story as Charly's investigations causes a dark secret to unfurl and the revelation that Nancy, a childhood friend of the boys, was secretly sent away to Maine after she was discovered to be pregnant.
Ford beautifully balances the tender scenes of family intimacy, particularly Ada and her determination to keep her children safe from the preying eyes of the past, with the wider mystery as his novel accelerates forwards, and allegations of rape reinforce the unsaid tension between Nate and James and Billy. It is these implicit animosities, long built up that have their seed in the tragic events of 1982. The mystery behind Daniel's death is finally revealed and in the process his family learn some painful insights, along with all of the angst that must come with the demands of family and the need to belong.
What We Remember signifies Ford's maturing as a writer and he perfectly captures the hormone-driven frustrations of a generation of teenagers as they're thrust amid the uniquely the stifling mores of suburbia, and also the complicated layers of family and friendship that are eventually torn apart by the endless passage of time. Mike Leonard May 09.
Format:Paperback
This 'whodunnit' marks a slight departure from the novels MTF has written before. As usual the characters are well drawn and the reader very quickly gets a clear idea of who they all are - their insecurities and flaws in particular, something the author has always been adept at relating.
Chapters alternate very clearly between past and present as the lives of people living in a small town get shaken up with the discovery of a long dead body. Secrets buried just as long come to the surface and you do genuinely want to keep reading to find out what has been going on, which is ultimately all you can ask from a pot boiler mystery.
There are no massive shocks as the tale finally unfolds but the journey there is highly entertaining. One minor flaw - it does get wrapped up a little too quickly. After investing time in the story, a lengthier pay off would have been more rewarding. That aside though, it's an enjoyable read and features a great 'boo, hiss' villain in the loathesome Nate.
Chapters alternate very clearly between past and present as the lives of people living in a small town get shaken up with the discovery of a long dead body. Secrets buried just as long come to the surface and you do genuinely want to keep reading to find out what has been going on, which is ultimately all you can ask from a pot boiler mystery.
There are no massive shocks as the tale finally unfolds but the journey there is highly entertaining. One minor flaw - it does get wrapped up a little too quickly. After investing time in the story, a lengthier pay off would have been more rewarding. That aside though, it's an enjoyable read and features a great 'boo, hiss' villain in the loathesome Nate.
Format:Paperback
I read prolifically and often take no notice of the cover or the title and so it was not for either reason that I picked this novel out of the library apart from it was in the gay reading section and I had not heard of the author. Sometimes it is fun to read a light hearted whodunnit? And this is, albeit a very contrived whodunnit, an easy read. It was after finishing the book, and looking again at the cover I was incensed. My biggest gripe about the book is the farcically misleading cover. I defy anyone who finishes this book to explain just what in the narrative the front cover relates to? Anyone who can, please email me on my profile email address. Furthermore the comments on the back cover are as contrived as the spidered web of narrative. There were publishing errors such as when the narrative referred to Nate when it should have been James and other poor editting which downgraded the obvious effort the author made to entertain. Sadly not a book to recommend.
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