Everyone has one or two events in their lives that they will always remember where they were when it happened. In our most recent lifetimes, everyone remembers September 11 and Katrina. Our grandparents may have remembered the Depression and Pearl Harbor. Maybe our own parents remember the Kennedy assassination. For the protagonist Luke, of "Recovering Charles," his outstanding memory will always be of Hurricane Katrina.
Luke's mother committed suicide when he was younger; she had gotten depressed when her own mother died in a tragic car accident. After Luke's mother was gone, his father, Charles, was devastated by the loss of his soulmate. He began drinking heavily; every time Luke thought Charles was going to clean up his act, Charles would return to his old ways. To make matters worse, he would call Luke and ask for money. Being between a rock and a hard spot, Luke would enevitably give in and wire money to whatever city his nomadic father was inhabiting.
Charles ended up in New Orleans about six months before Hurricane Katrina wreaked her havoc on so many. Though Luke loved his father, he had made a life for himself in New York. Seperated by distance and time, Luke is at a loss when a phone call from New Orleans comes in one day. The caller identifies himself as a friend of Charles' and asks Luke to travel to Louisiana to search for his father, who has been missing since the levees broke. Still angry with his father, Luke drags his feet but eventually ends up in New Orleans.
The story unfolds as he sees the effects of the hurricane. People are forlorn, yet have an underlying resolve to make things right again. The city is in ruin and the desolation is everywhere. Yet the people are survivors and Luke has much to learn from them. They are living a psalm of second chances.
Though "Recovering Charles" is not a book solely about Huricane Katrina, it calls all the images of the aftermath to mind. The writing is that vivid. Jason F. Wright seems to be writing as one who was there, who smelled the smells, who saw the the bodies, who saw the sorrow and fatigue in everyones' eyes. When Luke, Bela (a friend of Charles'), and a policeman named Frank go to the Morial Convention Center in search of Luke's father, the reader can see and smell the sights that lay within.
He pushed the door open and held it for me. The smell didn't wait for me to step in. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bela cover her nose and mouth and walk away.
"You weren't exaggerating," I said, gagging.
He said something I couldn't understand. His mouth was hidden under both his mask and his uniform collar.
Frank led me through the lobby. We passed hazmat workers beginning the daunting process of undoing Katrina's human consequences. A water fountain had been pulled off the wall. The metal gates covering a concession stand lay on the floor. Empty Styrofoam cups and plastic lids were tossed everywhere. Cabinet doors hung from their hinges.
Frank opened a service door, revealing a pitch-black hallway. He pulled a flashlight from the side of his belt. "Come on," he managed. "I'll show you the food service area."
The hallway smelled even worse than the airy lobby had. Small mounds of feces and stained newspapers or magazines appeared every so often. What appeared to be dried urine was everywhere. With little warning I doubled over, pulled my mask down, and threw up in a trash can. I was thankful I couldn't see what was in it.
"Frank," I called ahead to him, wiping my mouth on my shirtsleeve. "I can't. I can't go this way. Come---" I threw up again, this time on the floor.
Hats off to Jason F. Wright for continuously writing better novels each time. It will be a treat to read his next book. His capability of writing a story with so much heart and soul with a moral tied in is astounding. His style is very real and easy to read, but the words all carry great meaning. Being reminded that seizing second chances is a thoroughly peaceful experience. Read "Recovering Charles" and let Luke's catharsis become your own.
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