Customer Reviews

Recovering Charles

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I almost put this book aside because the first few chapters bored me. If this happens to you, don't!!! It picks up big time and you'll be utterly transformed. The devastating storm of Katrina is brilliantly depicted as the main character wanders around the New Orleans area after the storm looking for his father. The television coverage was good of Katrina, but this book makes it even more descriptive of the utter ruin of people's lives.
I could smell the stench of the Convention Center where the victims went for shelter.

Articulately written.

This spellbinding tale left me speechless for several hours after finishing it as I processed the various situations and emotions that must have been felt by the characters. I often find myself relating to one of the main characters, but in an interesting twist- I found myself relating to each one of the main characters in this story in different circumstances in my life. Jason has hit the very core of so many emotions we all experience at one time or another during our lives: love denied, loss, estrangement, natural disasters, fear and betrayal. Yet in his powerful way he weaves these difficult emotions into a story of healing, hope, faith and binding love. I highly recommend this story to everyone who yearns to see the difficult circumstances of our lives become the strength and joy that sees us through to the next day.

I just finished 'Recovering Charles' by Jason Wright. I am really torn at how I feel. This book has left me really pondering life and love. Here are my thoughts:
Thought #1: This is a great book on relationships. Romantic, friendships, parent / child...they are all covered in this book!
Thought #2: This is an extremely educational book - I learned more about Hurricane Katrina while reading this book than I have ever known...and this is a fiction novel. I realize now how little attention I pay to world events.
Thought #3: This book was very unlike the other two of his that I have read (The Christmas Jars and The Wednesday Letters). I feel as though he has reached a new level in his writing...one that I enjoy...but hope that we will see more "light-hearted", easy to reads coming from him in the future.
Thought #4: I'm mentally exhausted.

This is a well written fictional novel of a man in search of his father in Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, right after Katrina hit. The New York well known photographer knows one main charcter at the beginning of the novel (his long time female friend) and meets four more as the novel progresses. Since he has not seen his father in years, he learns about his father through the eyes of the four characters who knew him.

The novel seemed to be well written. Language flowed easily and the story moved effortlessly between scenes. One can easily follow events due to the small number of major characters how the author developed communication styles and personalities of the characters.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, it was as advertised by other reviewers.

Jason F. Wright is a New York Times Bestselling Author of The Christmas Jars and The Wednesday Letters, both of which I have not read, but would like to after reading Recovering Charles. This story is about a man, Luke, who is a professional photographer living in Manhattan and in a relationship with his best female friend, Jordan (a saint of a woman, if you ask me!). The reader discovers that Luke lost his mother as a young man to her tragic overdose to sleeping medications as a result of depression. His father, Charles, never quite recovered from the death of his beloved and inevitably becomes an alcoholic.


Despite his childhood tragedies, Luke moves on to become a successful young man, avoiding alcohol and his father's phone calls for more money to keep him "afloat." In my opinion, Luke's heart has grown hard to his past and his father. Luke gets that dreaded call, after Hurricane Katrina, from a friend of his father's that Charles has, in fact, gone missing. As it had been more than 2 years since Luke's last phone call with his father, he wasn't convinced that Charles was in fact missing. Luke's intuition told him that maybe Charles had moved along to another town, like he had done in the past. But, after speaking with his esteemed mentor and Jordon, he decides that it is worth the road trip to New Orleans to see if he can locate his father.


In New Orleans, Luke meets the people in his father's life that seemed to know Charles the best during his period of recovery from alcoholism. These people knew Charles during his second chance at life and his renewed spirit of helping those around him. They aid in Luke's search for Charles and accompany the reader through the trip through a devastated New Orleans after the levees broke. What is remarkable to me about this book is that I read it so very quickly. It is a well written book, whose characters I got a strong sense of and a terrific visual of. The book is well written, poignant, and yet not overwhelming to the senses. The reader can walk with Luke through this journey and pull for him to write the second verse to Charles' song, which will be the beginning of Luke's life.

On Sher's "Out of Ten" Scale:

This book, well it's lovely. I would most definitely recommend it. Jason F. Wright has a fantastic blog, which readers can access via the book website. It's soft and easy like a song... yet makes you think, remember and long for that heart inside where you are true to yourself. If I were to place it in the American Fiction Genre, I'd give it, within that genre, an 8 out of 10. Thank you, Penny of Author Marketing Experts for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

My new friend gave me a copy of Recovering Charles by Jason F. Wright for Christmas last week. So sweet. It was perfect to read during the small moments of free time during the holiday.

Luke Millward has discovered success as a free-lance photographer in New York City when he gets a call from a friend of his estranged father. He discovers that his father has been living and working as a musician in New Orleans and is missing following the Katrina disaster. Halfheartedly, Luke heads to Louisiana to find his father.

This story tells the painful and often gruesome story of Katrina's wrath on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in a dignified way--glorifying the heroes and citizens that helped in a most horrifying natural disaster. It is also a story of hope and faith and healing old wounds as Luke learns to forgive and also discovers that people can become better. He also learns to love again.

I really enjoyed the novel and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, heart-warming read.

I've read other books by Jason Wright and this book didn't disappoint! In fact it may be my favorite of his books thus far. I also liked the post Katrina background to this story, different than most novels.

I love the ideas of redemption, second chances, and turning things around. I love the ways those ideas were presented in this very readable and entertaining book about a young man seeking out his father. Luke Millward is a relatable and likable main character, and Wright's sense of setting and place is impeccable, as always.

A look back at the disaster of Katrina, the hurricane that caused the city of New Orleans to be buried under water, death, and destruction. Out of the recovery came many a story. Many others went untold. This novel of a NY photographer who heads into the stricken city while it is yet partially flooded in search of his father is an example of many heart-breaking real situations that went unrecorded.

Luke didn't care much for his alcoholic father, made that way from the drug-dependency death of his mother. Her condition was a result of her own mother's death. Grief was not an easy part of life to deal with, and the small family was broken from dysfunctional behavior and death. Luke, unsure of even a desire to find his missing father, heads for the storm center's devastation in search of photos, if not answers. It is his decision to go that makes this book's 130 page Part 1. The remaining book, Part 2, is a trip you will be glad you only had to experience through reading, not the actual immediate horrific aftermath of Katrina. In this book, author Jason F. Wright paints a picture, not a pleasant one to look at, but one that we as a country must not forget. The books main character, Luke, his friends, his father, and his father's friends, are people whose lives were changed. In reading and understanding what they encountered, we can all be made a bit better and more human.

It is historical fiction taking place in modern times, desperate times, NOT the best of times. It includes romance from the heart, broken hearts, and bleeding, bursting, hearts. It is a story of family, family struggles, family accomplishments, families' need to survive. You will be appalled, you will be warmed, you may cry, at times laugh, and at the end (a very surprising ending) you will be thankful. You will think, and you will think of many things to be thankful for. You may even pray.

You will be touched, expect it.

This author has another book out since "Recovering Charles". Visit the listing for "The Cross Gardener".

This book is a great memorial to all those touched by Hurricane Katrina. I could not put the book down. As an English and History teacher, this is a wonderful book to encourage my students to read. The writing style is very descriptive. The author really makes us feel like we are there with him in the 9th Ward.