The Wake of Forgiveness
A Novel
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
"A mesmerizing, mythic saga" of a Texas family damaged by a dark past, and a son driven by a need for redemption (The New York Times Book Review).
On a moonless Texas night in 1895, an ambitious young landowner suffers the loss of his wife—"the only woman he's ever been fond of"—when she dies giving birth to their fourth son, Karel. The boy is forever haunted by thoughts of the mother he never knew and the bloodshot blame in his father's eyes, and is permanently marked by the yoke he and his brothers are forced to wear to plow the family fields.
But from an early age, Karel proves remarkably talented on horseback, and his father enlists him to ride in horseraces against his neighbors, with acreage as the prize. Now, Karel prepares for a high-stakes race against a powerful Spanish patriarch and his alluring daughters—and hanging in the balance are his father's fortune, his brothers' futures, and his own fate—in this "powerful story of familial love, anguish, and hatred" (The Dallas Morning News).
"[A] luminous and wrenching tale of four motherless brothers." —Entertainment Weekly
"This intense, fast-paced debut novel is hard to put down. Machart's hard-hitting style is sure to capture fans of Cormac McCarthy and Jim Harrison." —Library Journal, starred review
"A gripping American drama." —Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Machart's bleak, accomplished debut opens in 1895 as a landowning Texas family faces both sides of life's spectrum: the birth of a fourth son and the death of the boy's mother during childbirth. This event resonates throughout the lives of Vaclav Skala, who lost "the only woman he'd ever been fond of," and his four sons who, 15 years later, find their youngest sibling, Karel, to be a preternaturally talented equestrian. While Vaclav's wagers on his son's races increase, so does Karel's confidence, especially when facing off against the talk of the town: Guillermo Villase or, a powerful, moneyed, patronizing patriarch with three beautiful daughters. Yet Karel remains haunted by the memory of his mother, often feeling "the flat cool of her absence," and a prideful father who keeps him at arm's length. The consequences of a race that has his father's land hanging in the balance play out some 14 years later when, in 1924, Karel is married with children, yet still finds himself straying and facing inter-familial discord. Machart's moving story unfolds lyrically and sensually, with little fanfare, as his thoughtful prose propels a character-driven story about family, morality, and redemption.
