Synopsis:
Dwight Arno was an attorney with a wife and young son until he got behind the wheel of a car after drinking. He struck and killed one of his son’s classmates, then fled from the scene. He served a prison term and became estranged from his only child.
Now, twelve years later, Dwight is a fifty-year-old manager of a sporting goods store living in Arenas, California, not far from Santa Barbara. He has not seen his son, Sam, in all those years. Dwight leads a solitary life in which some days are better than others, meaning that on some days he is less haunted by his past than others. He is dating a divorced professor to whom he has not revealed the truth about his past.
Sam has become a stand-out baseball player on the University of Connecticut team. He is just weeks away from graduating when he becomes involved in a violent incident and, like his father, runs. When he unexpectedly turns up on Dwight’s doorstep, Dwight wants to reestablish an emotional connection with his son and help him deal with his current circumstances. Meanwhile, Sam’s mother, Ruth, is at home in Connecticut, battling her own demons.
Review:
The story is told in successive chapters from the various characters’ viewpoints, but only that experiences of Dwight Arno are related in a first-person narrative. Dwight is quietly tormented by his behavior, but has moved to California and started a new life. His job is tolerable because he has developed a congenial relationship with the owner of the sporting good store and is dating a woman for whom he feels affection, but to whom he has not had the courage to reveal the truth about his past. He misses Sam and sends him a Christmas card each year containing a financial gift, but has had no relationship with him for more than a decade. Dwight’s deep-seated self-loathing and anger with himself simmers just below the surface, but the delicately balanced life he has crafted for himself is interrupted by Sam’s sudden appearance in Arenas. Dwight wants to help his son, but approaches the situation slowly, waiting for Sam to open up to him about what he has experienced.
For the past twelve years, Sam has carried his own personal shame and sorrow in the aftermath of his father’s conduct. Ironically, the one person to whom he has been close is Emma, the sister of the young boy his father struck and killed. With Emma, he shares a kinship born of loss and mourning. For Sam, his current troubles are the self-fulfilling prophecy that he has long feared and anticipated. Like father, like son? He has wondered for too many years and now it appears that he may have found the profoundly disturbing answer to that question. Schwartz’s exploration of the subtly devastating manner in which a parent’s mistakes can impact an impressionable child is delicately and movingly constructed. Sam’s story is a heartbreakingly believable cautionary tale for parents.
Of course, Sam can only hide for so long and eventually he must face the consequences of his actions, just as Dwight did years ago. But Dwight is not ready to let go of the son he has only recently reclaimed, and that brings him face to face with his ex-wife, Ruth. Just like Sam, Ruth is scarred by Dwight’s choices but she has learned to soldier on, largely because when Dwight was sent to prison, she had to finish raising Sam. Now, however, she is determined that she will not lose her son to the same kind of fate as his father, and struggles to discern precisely how to help him. Eventually, of course, Sam has to help himself because he is twenty-two years old and must stand on his own.
Schwartz’s writing is remarkable because each of his characters is seriously flawed, but there are no villains in the story. Rather, his characters struggle to make good choices and decisions, but sometimes fail spectacularly. Of course, because every action invokes a reaction, Schwartz’s examination of the way Dwight’s behavior continues to impact the lives of his family, Emma and her family, and the community is authentically and convincingly detailed. The result is a riveting story about the tenuous bonds that hold families together and the myriad ways in which one’s past experiences inform future choices. At its core, Northwest Corner is an understated but powerful story about our capacity to forgive and the potency of second chances. I highly recommend Northwest Corner.
Enter to Win a Copy of Northwest Corner
One lucky reader, selected at random, will receive a copy of Northwest Corner, generously provided by the author.
To enter, simply post a comment! Be sure to include your email address (for notification and delivery purposes). The book can only be shipped to a United States or Canadian address (no P.O. box).
The comment posted by Debbie Rodgers at ExUrbanis was selected at random, so a copy of Northwest Corner was sent to Debbie.
23 Comments
Sounds intriguing, please enter me.
Reading the synopsis to this story gave me chills! I’d love to read this book. 🙂
nicnac63 AT hotmail DOT com
This sounds great! Please count me in. Thank you!
nfmgirl At gmail DOT com
This sounds like an amazing read! Thanks for being on the tour. I’m featuring your review on TLC’s Facebook page today.
Pingback: John Burnham Schwartz, author of Northwest Corner, on tour July/August 2011 | TLC Book Tours
Very compelling story — I’d love to win!
patricia dot mariani dot esq at gmail dot com
Sounds like a great book. Thanks for the giveaway.
This book looks interesting, the plot is good 🙂 edysicecreamlover18ATgmailDOTcom
I’d love to read this! Thank you for the giveaway!
mittens0831 at aol dot com
Sounds like a good one. Enter me please
amhengst at verizon dot net
I love stories told from the viewpoints of different characters, so am intrigued by Northwest Corner. Thanks for the chance to win!
debbie AT exurbanis (dot) com
Thanks for the chance. This story looks riveting.
Pingback: “Northwest Corner” by John Burnham Schwartz | Melody & Words
Sounds really interesting. Count me in please.
Thanks!
quixoticdreamer(at)hotmail(dot)com
It sounds like a tragic thriller…whatever that really means but I am intrigued.
I would love to read this
Sounds like a really good emotional story. Thanks for the giveaway!
Margaret
singitm@hotmail.com
Sounds like a great read!
mamabunny13 at gmail dot com
This sounds like a powerful and intense story. I’m intrigued by John Burnham Schwartz’s writing style and look forward to experiencing it. I also like that none of his extremely flawed characters are the villain but just human beings trying toi do the right thing and sometimes failing miserably.
Thank you for hosting a giveaway of this book.
Aimala127(at)gmail(dot)com
Please include me! Thanks for the chance!
nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
An interesting and special giveaway. Thanks for this opportunity.
Sounds like a very interesting and touching book. I would love to read it to find out how the story ends. Please enter me. Thanks!
The path to redemption is often paved with good intentions and riddled with regrets. What an amazing story!! Please enter me in the drawing. randicrtr@yahoo.com 😉