The Brothers' Keepers
... a modern literary novel by
John H. Paddison
and
Charles D. Orvik
All questions and comments are welcome and appreciated. Please contact John Paddison or Charles Orvik at:.
http://paddison-orvik.com/contact_us/admin
Introduction
The Brothers’ Keepers, a realistic fiction work set primarily in the midwest of the 1930s and 40s, is a collaborative work written by John H. Paddison and Charles D. Orvik. Based on the book’s tone, theme, and literary intention, which are similar in style to Sherwood Anderson’s classic Winesburg, Ohio, this work will prove to be a significant contribution to contemporary literature writing, particularly in the genre of historical fiction novels.
In dealing with the saga of a dysfunctional family, the work closely analyzes an ongoing cultural myth of small midwestern American towns and families—that is, the idea and ideal of family values that have come to symbolize that geographic region. Much like Richard Russo recently did in his novel Empire Falls, the story emerges from within a historical framework. Set in the Northeastern part of North Dakota, in the fictional town of Farmington, the tale takes place during and after the Great Depression. The storyline develops around the neglect and then abandonment of five young boys—the Lambson brothers—by their alcoholic mother and their drifter father, and indeed by society in general. Having been exhaustively researched, the novel details in a sensitive yet realistic way the brothers’ development under very adverse physical and social conditions and the five boys’ eventual outcome. More than a description of the effects of the Great Depression, the events of the story are structured so as to extract meaning from the youngsters’ trials: that is, the lasting effects of child abandonment and child abuse. The narrative voice remains sensitive yet forceful in a probing effort to understand their tribulations. In so doing, the novel becomes an earnest attempt to bringing to light the ongoing problems of child neglect and child abuse and the relationship of alcohol abuse to those social tragedies, as well as the resulting behavior and characteristics of abused and neglected children.
The novel follows five young brothers—Dewey, Duane, Lloyd, Leeland, and Darrell Lambson—from childhood to adulthood. Their parents essentially abandon them in the late 1930s. The narrative focus of the novel is the detailed description of the Lambson boys’ day-to-day struggle to survive physically, emotionally, and socially. After their father leaves them, the boys live on a dilapidated farm on the outskirts of the agricultural community of Farmington, North Dakota with their alcoholic mother. In her own pursuit of escape, she often leaves the children to their own means for extended periods of time. The brothers’ hardships form a strong, familial bond between them—the only definition of family that they can construct from their aberrant circumstances. The broader narrative, though, becomes an attempt to understand how a society that traditionally has always placed so much emphasis on family and family values, at least seemingly, can condone such treatment of the five youngsters. This probing of social responsibility is relevant to today’s society, with children increasingly becoming the victims of abuse, neglect, and abandonment.
All questions and comments are welcome and appreciated. Please contact John Paddison or Charles Orvik at:.
http://paddison-orvik.com/contact_us/admin
