First published 2015
Jonathan Sweetwater has built what looks like the perfect life. Money flows freely, his career satisfies him, his children thrive, and his wife Claire dazzles everyone with her beauty and intelligence. But cracks appear in this carefully constructed world when Jonathan uncovers signs that his marriage may be crumbling. The discovery forces him to confront a painful truth he has avoided for decades. His father, Percy Sweetwater III, walked out when Jonathan was nine years old. The five-term senator went on to marry five more women after Jonathan's mother, collecting wives like political victories before his death. Now Jonathan faces a choice. He can pretend everything is fine, or he can excavate the past he has buried. He chooses the harder path. Jonathan embarks on a cross-country search for his father's former wives, traveling from city penthouses to mountain retreats to tropical islands. Each woman holds pieces of Percy's story, and Jonathan hopes their memories will unlock the secrets of marriage, manhood, and the father who abandoned him. His journey becomes a mirror, reflecting his own choices back at him.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, secrets
223 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow