Book Review - The Rockin' Chair

The Rockin' Chair by Steven Manchester (2013) -  This is the story of the family of Alice and Big John McCarthy.  It is a touching story of a family that has never mastered the art of being family.  When Alice dies patriarch John finds himself without the buffer of his beloved wife between himself, his son and his grown grandchildren.  Somehow he needs to find the way to lead his family home.

This is the second Steven Manchester novel I've reviewed ("12 Months", July 2012) and like the first I really had no idea what I was getting into when I opened it up.  The second time around was even more satisfying than the first.  Manchester is a writer of great emotional depth and this story will probably bring you to tears several times.  The writing distractions I disliked in the first book are gone and that allows the story to flow cleanly from start to finish.

I grew up in a family that wasn't real good at expressing emotion.  Fortunately for me the resulting childhood was much happier than the ones found here.  But the author does a wonderful job of making these people real and their pain strike you sharply.

If I wanted to get picky there's plenty to pick at.  The characters are overly familiar and not particularly deeply explored (the book is only about 250 pages total).  There's no particular surprise at the end.  Some folks will find the story maudlin or "too religious" (neither of which are particularly accurate).

For me this is a heart warming story of a family finding its way past their own shortcomings and history to find their way back to one another.  To find their way home.

Rating - **** Good Read