At first glance, the protagonist of Chris Kassel’s SONS AND FATHERS: SOUL AND SHADOW is not one given over to poetry, romance, or flights of fancy. He’s 61, lifts at the local gym, doesn’t see his imprisoned son or his music-star dad, and makes ends meet doing repairs around his neighborhood in Detroit. But as the novel opens, Rocco is on the verge of self-discovery, starting with his reacquaintance to Angelina. The childhood acquaintance of decades ago becomes part of his life again, and bonding with her son Luca opens the door to further explorations of what it means to be a father and a son.
From there, the story wends from place to place, both literally and narratively. Rocco’s journey takes him to the small town of Santoremo in Italy, connecting to his family’s roots (and destructive old habits) while doing repairs for a local church. Further meetings, both happy and sad (but more often a mix of the two), await him as he meets his father’s famous friends in Hollywood, seeks out the family he began to assemble for himself, and finally begins to rebuild his life. While not every bond in SONS AND FATHERS is renewed or strengthened, the ones that remain are permitted to flourish.
SONS AND FATHERS is an unexpectedly poetic book. Days working out and evenings watching Columbo are interspersed with surprisingly chaste romance. Much less chaste romance overseas shares the page with local oddities and lazy dogs. Even the most mundane of scenes are touched with romantic language: “A crow picked at the cadaver of a single faded memory” and “his hands were the burls that form on willow trunks” are just a few such descriptions. The prose is as complex and multifaceted as Rocco himself, and it’s a joy to read from beginning to end.
While the novel may not be happy at every turn, it is ultimately an uplifting book. A happy ending does not require everything to work out perfectly, and Rocco’s journey is more than a little turbulent. But it’s rewarding even in its darkest hours, and the story remains hopeful in its final pages.
The deceptively rough and rugged start of Chris Kassel’s SONS AND FATHERS: SOUL AND SHADOW gives way to a deep, convoluted, and emotional journey, as one man comes to terms with his family, his past, and his heritage.
~Kara Dennison for IndieReader