The Bright Freight of Memory is Greg Fields’ fourth novel, but the first one reviewed in this blog. Unlike most of the books that are reviewed at Men Reading Books, this is not a murder mystery. There are some deaths in the story, but that’s not what carried the plot. Rather, the story is primarily about two fatherless boys growing up in poverty who had rather helpless mothers that could not meet the needs of their sons. Friends during their early years, Matthew Cooney and Donal Mannion took different paths while not living far from their original neighborhoods. Alcoholism was a part of their generational stories. There is a supporting cast of characters that help flush out their stories of never being able to rise to a level of feeling meaning in their lives or meaningful and lasting relationships.
The quality of the writing far exceeds the books that are often reviewed in the blog. Fields primary and secondary characters grabbed my attention. I give this book a 5/5 rating – it is worth your time to enjoy the prose of Greg Fields. If it was not for another reading project on my plate, I would surely jump right into one of Fields’ earlier novels.
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