The Rockin’ Chair by Steven Manchester Review & Giveaway

Memories are the ultimate contradiction. They can warm us on our coldest days – or they can freeze a loved one out of our lives forever. The McCarthy family has a trove of warm memories. Of innocent first kisses. Of sumptuous family meals. Of wondrous lessons learned at the foot of a rocking chair. But they also have had their share of icy ones. Of words that can never be unsaid. Of choices that can never be unmade. Of actions that can never be undone.Following the death of his beloved wife, John McCarthy – Grandpa John – calls his family back home. It is time for them to face the memories they have made, both warm and cold. Only then can they move beyond them and into the future.

A rich portrait of a family at a crossroad, The Rockin’ Chair is Steven Manchester’s most heartfelt and emotionally engaging novel to date. If family matters to you, it is a story you must read.

My thoughts:

The Rockin’ Chair is a beautiful and engaging story of a family dealing with loss, misunderstanding, personal demons and most importantly a story of a family coming together.

The story opens from the point of view of Alice, who is approaching death and living with Alzheimers.   Manchester masterfully pulls the reader into the confusion brought on by this devastating disease by at first allowing the reader to believe she is a young girl only to reveal the truth that she is reliving a dismembered memory of the past. 

When Alice passes on, her husband, John McCarthy, calls his family home and so the story really begins as we are introduced to each family member and their own struggles.  Grandpa John regularly doles out loving wisdom in an effort to heal his family.

This is a truly emotional and healing book, I was left feeling uplifted and yet still oddly sad.  This family could be any family, and Grandpa John’s wisdom applies to us all.  The Rockin’ Chair is a wonderfully well written novel and I just can’t recommend it enough.