A son's account of his father's dramatic and life-shaping childhood.
Dale Peck Sr grew up extremely poor in rural Long Island in the 1950s, sharing a one-room house with seven brothers and sisters, an abusive mother, and an alcoholic father haunted by his past. At fourteen, he was essentially kidnapped by his father and taken to his uncle's farm in upstate New York, and his life changed dramatically.
Dale grew strong and healthy from the strenuous work on the farm, and developed a loving relationship with his uncle Wallace. For the first time, he knew contentment. But when Dale's mother demanded that he return, he was forced to choose between his broken family, his uncle, and land he had come to love. It was a decision that would determine his future and the legacy he would pass on to his own son.
In this book, a story that startles in its immediacy and lack of sentimentality, Dale Peck evokes his father's past through his own vivid imagination, forging a bridge between generations and revealing the dark secrets at the heart of family.
