Slow Way Home: A Novel - Hardcover

Morris, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060568984 ISBN 13: 9780060568986

Publisher: HarperOne, 2003

Synopsis

On the surface, Brandon Willard seems like your average eight-year-old boy. He loves his mama, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and G. I. Joe. But Brandon's life is anything but typical.

Wise beyond his years, Brandon understands he's the only one in this world he can count on. It's an outlook that serves him well the day his mama leaves him behind at the Raleigh bus station and sets off to Canada with "her destiny" -- the latest man that she hopes will bring her happiness. The day his mother leaves, Brandon takes the first step toward shaping his own destiny. Soon he sends himself spending pleasant days playing with his cousins on his grandparents' farm and trying to forget the past. In the safety of that place, Brandon finally is able to trust the love of an adult to help iron out the wiry places until his nerves are as steady as any other boy's.

But when Sophie Willard shows up a year later with a determined look in her eye and a new man in tow, Brandon's grandparents ignore a judge's ruling and flee the state with Brandon. Creating a new life and identity in a small Florida town, Brandon meets the people who will fill him with self-worth and self-respect. He slowly becomes involved with "God's Hospital," a church run by the gregarious Sister Delores, a woman who is committed to a life of service for all members of the community, black and white, regardless of some townsfolk's disapproval.

About this title

From the Publisher

Family secrets, assumed identites and the passions of a Southern town make SLOW WAY HOME a page-turner. Eight-year old Brandon Willard makes it unforgettable.

Morris's latest novel is a moving meditation on the power of faith and the meaning of home. Anne Rivers Siddons, Lee Smith, Homer Hickam, Silas House, Richard Paul Evans, Lynne Hinton and Tim Farrington are among the writers who are praising this inspiring novel.

From the Inside Flap

On the surface, Brandon Willard seems like your average eight-year-old boy. He has an obligatory love for his mama, peanut butter, and GI Joe. But Brandon’s life is anything but serene and typical. Brandon is wise beyond his years and able to look at the world around him with an understanding that he’s the only person he can count on. It’s an outlook that serves him well the day his mother leaves him behind at the Raleigh, North Carolina, bus station and sets off to Canada with "her destiny" the latest man that she hopes will bring her happiness. Soon Brandon finds himself on his grandparents’ farm spending carefree days playing with his cousins and fighting to forget the past. It is there, with the hardwork and love of his grandparents that Brandon finally allows the love of an adult to seep into his pores and iron out the wiry places until his nerves are as steady as any other boy’s. But when his mother shows up a year later with a new man in tow, Brandon’s grandparents ignore the law and flee with Brandon rather than returning him to the daughter they deem as unfit. Creating a new life and identity in a small Florida town, Brandon meets the people who empower him with self-worth and self-respect. He slowly becomes involved with "God’s Hospital" – a church run by the gregarious Sister Delores, an African-American woman who serves membersof the community – both black and white. Yet, Sister Delores’s outreach doesn’t exactly inspire everyone. When a violent act threatens to rip the town a part, Brandon and his grandparents are put in a perilous situation that will forever change the course of their lives. Beginning through the eyes of a young boy, Slow Way Home takes the reader on an adventure of a child most of us will only know through newspaper articles: a child emotionally torn when having to make a decision as to where he wants to live – with the grandparents who protect and care for him or with the mother he loves and wants to protect. With Southern Gothic sensibility and tone, Slow Way Home’s theme of redemption and the meaning of home keeps the pages turning until the end. But it’s the exceptional voice of Brandon Willard, maturing from boy to man,that will linger long after the moment of reckoning.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060568984
• ISBN 13: 9780060568986
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288